More joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
Pope Benedict XVI faced claims last night he had ‘obstructed justice’ after it emerged he issued an order ensuring the church’s investigations into child sex abuse claims be carried out in secret. The order was made in a confidential letter, obtained by The Observer, which was sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001.
It asserted the church’s right to hold its inquiries behind closed doors and keep the evidence confidential for up to 10 years after the victims reached adulthood. The letter was signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected as John Paul II’s successor last week.
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‘Cases of this kind are subject to the pontifical secret,’ Ratzinger’s letter concludes. Breaching the pontifical secret at any time while the 10-year jurisdiction order is operating carries penalties, including the threat of excommunication.
“It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the Church in general and for me personally that this could happen,” Benedict said aboard a special Alitalia airliner, nicknamed Shepherd 1. “It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission … to these children.”
Posted on April 16th, 2008 at 9:45 am
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Filed under Theology |
What kind of muppet sends a confidential letter to every single Catholic bishop?!
http://lettersfromatory.wordpress.com
Well, some people do take the threat of excommunication seriously, particularly Catholic bishops.
His Holiness’ deep compassion for his Church and himself is most touching, indeed.
Philip’s last blog post..Terminal Incompetence
Everyone makes mistakes and bad judgements sometimes, and in 2005 Joe wasn’t infallible, was he.
I don’t think he claims to be infallible all the time - only when he says he’s being infallible.
Philip’s last blog post..Terminal Incompetence
If you were infallible you’d never bother being Pope, would you? You’d go on some websites with “bet” in the URL for a while and then you’d retire to pass the rest of your life spending the money. Well I know I would.
ejh’s last blog post..Everybody loves a Ryanair fax
The Pope really is a fucking twat. I hope he reads this, then he’ll know he is one.
asquith’s last blog post..I’m 23 Now!
Fiddling with altar boys is so much more exciting than dealing with War Criminals.
Yes, but if you could instead watch War Criminals fiddling with altar boys — well, who would need TV?
The pope’s infallibility is restricted to those occasions he speaks on matters of church policy and catechism. Infallibility in the restricted sense.
Jim Bliss’s last blog post..Hey Boy, Hey Boy
Well my infallibility is restricted to those occasions I speak on matters of the Pope being an arsehole.
ejh’s last blog post..Everybody loves a Ryanair fax
If you’ll excuse the tangent; am I the only person who thinks “Ratzinger” would be a fantastic name for a death-metal band? It’d need a couple of superfluous umlauts and a jagged metallic typeface, but I really think it’d work.
Jim Bliss’s last blog post..Hey Boy, Hey Boy