Pope Benedict accused of masterminding Catholic Church sex abuse cover-up

The ongoing abuse scandals have nothing to do with it-unfortunately,bishops,priests and even the Pope are sinners like the rest of us-indeed as were all the Apostles sinners.However,individual failures don't affect the teaching of the Universal Church-failure of a bishop,for example,to act on a complaint does not mean that the Church teaches that to do so is ok.The Extraordinary Form of the Holy Mass is no better than the Ordinary Form-to say otherwise is to dismiss & contradict Pope Benedict's saying that they are merely DIFFERENT EXPRESSIONS OF THE ONE RITE.Either the one and same Sacrifice of Calvary is made fully present before us in both expressions of the Holy Mass or it is not-the merits of Calvary are infinite and do not come in half-measures.One Mass (celebrated reverently according to the rubrics and books set forth by the Church),which IS the Holy Sacrifice offered by Christ,is no better or worse than another;to say otherwise is,in fact,to make a mockery of the salvific power of just one drop of the Precious Blood shed by our Lord Jesus.There are many faithful Catholics,obedient to their pastors,who are returning to the traditions of the Church without engaging in and relying on messages which cause great confusion.

Again in reply to Carroll09-The Bayside messages state that when a Cardinal or Bishop preaches heresy that is contrary to true Catholic Doctrine, Priests and lay people have the right to disobey, and when you think of this ongoing sex scandal obviously such a statement has a lot of merit, perhaps it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Also the Bayside messages state that the current Mass is still valid but it is not as good as the old Mass.If there is one common message that defines Bayside it is return to tradition, return to the ways of your grandparents, the Catholic Faith that they understood. For 40 years these Bayside people have faithfully held 33-3-Hour Evening Rosary Vigils and have also as I have already said before prayed 15 Decades of the Rosary every Sunday for the good of the Catholic Faith.-What a story that is and the Brooklyn Archdioces still refuses to carry out an honest investigation of these Bayside messages.

Thanks to Carroll09 for the link to firstthings site and that open letter response to Hans Kung. The debate is good. I haven't posted on the site - so far!

I think the move to distributing Holy Communion by placing the host and/or chalice in the hands of the recipient was more in keeping with what Christ did with His Apostles and whoever else was there in the room at that “last supper” (why it’s called that I don’t know; heck, it was the first of – rurrrhhh – how many billions of Holy Feasts since? It’s been said there are four every minute all around the globe). More likely He asked them to pass the Communion from one to the next by hand. Sorry Vincent, I don’t feel I can run with your theories despite yr honest belief in them. I had a look at yr site btw; thank you for the invite. It is interesting but not convincing in many aspects. I trust and believe in Jesus and His Holy Mother, rarely in human interpretations of what either of them would say to us through those who claim to be holy intermediary visionaries.

Vincentruane-if the messages say that people should receive Communion on the tongue and kneeling,they are in direct conflict with the Church's position.Personally,I prefer to receive kneeling & on the tongue,but individual bishops' conferences have the authority to decide whether Communion in the hand will be permitted.Furthermore,the Church teaches that it is illicit to deny communion to a communicant on the grounds that they wish to receive kneeling where standing is customary.As for people praying the rosary for priests-that is laudable,but they can still do this amongst the false messages:even the demon in Mark 5 was able to affirm that Jesus is "the Son of the Most High God".How surprising that when the bishop makes a pronouncement about the false messages,the Bayside followers are told that it's ok to disobey the bishop.Funny-the same thing happened at the Holy Love "shrine" days after Bishop Lennon ordered the faithful to keep away.So,we are to believe that Christ appointed apostles and their successors (the bishops) to teach the truth by the power, guidance & authority of the Holy Spirit,and then His Mother,Queen of the Apostles,encourages disobedience to them? Please,forgive me for trusting Christ's words over those of a self-appointed prophet.

CarroliO9-There is nothing in the Bayside messages that is heretical as you claim, how your mind has become so full of false facts is to me unexplainable.

Also Carroll09-Every Sunday morning for 40 Years the people of Bayside have prayed 15 decades of the Rosary especially for priests.So would they be doing that, if they were heretical as you falsely claim.

Again in reply to Carroll09-I believe the Bayside messages should be properly investigated by the Catholic Church and your claim that they are heretical is either a deliberate lie or you are a victim of misinformation.I will just give you two examples here-One- The Bayside messages do not say the current Mass is invalid as you claim, but it repeatedly says that the old Mass is a much better Mass.Two-In relation to your false point about obedience, this is what the Bayside messages state,'When a Cardinal or Bishop preaches to the flock false doctrine about the Catholic faith, a priest or a lay person has a right to disobey such heresy.In relation to Holy Communion the Bayside messages say, receive Holy Communion in your tongue and on your knees after making a good confession. I'll leave it at that for now.

George Weigel has written an open-letter in response to that of Hans Kung. It is worth reading: http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2010/04/an-open-letter-to-hans-kung

Vincentruane-do you not think that those involved in Bayside, on whose website the messages are published, would make sure that such messages,supposedly from Our Lady, would be correct before putting them out for all the world to see? These "printing errors" as you call them are reproduced on other websites, so this is what I and the world have to go on- and as it stands at the present time, the Bayside "prophesies" are teaching error and are heretical, and as I said in an earlier post, Catholics should place no credence on them- the Church, through Sacred Scripture,Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium guided by the Holy Spirit, gives us what we need in order to live as Christ wishes and to work for our salvation.

In reply to Carroll09-Two times I have replied to every point in your message, but the message are being blocked. All your points about Bayside have major errors, except the June 18-1988- message, but because it doesn't make since in common English, it looks like a printing error has occurred ie- some key words have been left out. This is about the twentieth time In my replies to other posts I have been stopped. It reminds me of Section 31! Keep praying the Rosary.

I have not seen Irish Central report the fact that772,000 children of the general population of the U.S.A.were abused or neglected during the year 2007.Many experts claim this is only the tip of the iceberg.How about getting some balance into your reporting.

Vincentruane-for example,June 18,1988:"the one who comes after [Pope John Paul II] will destroy him if he can-he will attempt to destroy Pope John Paul II".Pope Benedict is the one who came after Pope John Paul-he was one of his closest aides in life & in death, Pope Benedict wants him canonised!On the same date,she prophesied that a "ball of redemption" will be set upon mankind & "is hurtling towards earth!It will be here within this century,if not sooner"...a prophesy on a market crash that would paralyse the whole world's monetary system in less than 2 years (which never happened).It continues to promote disobedience to successive bishops who have admonished the faithful to keep away-if we are to judge such "shrines" by their fruits,then the "fruit" of disobedience to the successors of the Apostles is a particularly rotten one.Doctrinal errors & deceptions include:saying that receiving Communion in the hand is sinful;Vatican II was false;The Ordinary Form of the Holy Mass is invalid;an "impostor Pope" governing the Church;Pope John Paul I poisoned.The list goes on...

I think 2B is also quite right to highlight Who is being received in Holy Communion and the respect one should have in doing so. Frankly, I sometimes shudder at the enormity of what I am receiving but then think thankfully of the simplicity of Christ in choosing to present Himself to us under the appearance of bread and wine. Barneyjo’s reference to Matthew 7:15-20 is humorous in the context of 2B’s points on receiving Communion but I think barney could have included reference to the previous verse, 7:15-19, which might be seen as having everything to do with April Drew’s article above and vincentruane’s points.

2BorNot2B – you are quite correct in saying that celebration of the Eucharist was held in private homes in the very earliest days of Christianity and I’m well aware of that, thank you. My references to churches and the inner sanctum belong to times when the first 'church' buildings appeared to serve growing Christian communities. I have a great interest in old churches and love visiting them on my travels. Though I’ve not been to Istanbul, I believe the (first-built, c.300 AD) Hagia Sophia there was the first Christian church to be declared a Basilica and it contained an inner sanctum one time. The present Hagia Sophia building (c.500 AD), once a basilica, then a mosque and now a museum, also had a sanctum. I’ve seen inner sanctums (ok, I know that should be sancta) in old Greek Orthodox churches – two very endearing ones particularly, one in a busy commercial street in Athens city centre (it’s tiny, delightfully out of place yet snugly fitting in perfectly amidst the shops and office buildings) and the other in Lindos, on the island of Rhodes off the coast of Turkey. I prayed the Our Father in both.