Is the Pope guilty...? IMO...YES!!!

[Lyzandra Daria]

Is Pope Benedict Guilty of Accessory to Rape After The Fact? The Preacher Bureau Of Investigation Would Like To Know.
http://www.i-newswire.com/is-pope-bened ... sory/66599

The Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith sole purpose is to protect the image of the Catholic Church by any means necessary. Unfortunately Joseph Ratzinger was willing to protect the Catholic Church even if it endangered innocent children.

According to the Preacher Bureau of Investigation Pope Benedict has a lot of explaining to do.

In the US Judicial System there exists a felony charge called Accessory after the Fact. A suspect in the United States can be charged with this offense if he knowingly shelters or aids a criminal after they have committed a crime. Another serious felony charge in the United States is Child Endangerment which equates to placing a child in a potentially harmful situation through negligence or misconduct.

Pope Benedict has come under a tremendous amount of criticism because of his handling of cases that involved Priests who raped children. Pope Benedict in his role as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which deals with sex abuse cases is accused of moving pedophile priests from one Diocese to the next in order to conceal child rapists. As Prefect of this division of the Vatican, it was his sole responsibility to discipline Priests accused of raping children.

The Preacher Bureau of Investigations (located at www.PimpPreacher.com) reports that Joseph Alois Ratzinger as he was known before his name was selected at the Conclave on April 19, 2005, was charged as the sole defender of the catholic church. He became Archbishop of Munich in 1977 in which he earned more stripes for his allegiance to the church. Joseph Ratzinger was also Dean of The College of Cardinals which served as the preparatory for Catholic Church leadership. In 1981 he ascended into his executive role as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of The Faith, thus giving him the final say on the persecution of pedophile priests.

The mission of the Congregation for the Doctrine of The Faith is to maintain and defend the integrity of the faith and to examine and proscribe errors and false doctrines.

The reason it is important to review the resume of Joseph Ratzinger is because it gives insight to why the Catholic Church was so quick to hide and conceal the actions of pedophile priests. Pope Benedict has spent the majority of his life defending the actions of Catholicism. The Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith sole purpose is to protect the image of the Catholic Church by any means necessary. Unfortunately Joseph Ratzinger was willing to protect the Catholic Church even if it endangered innocent children.

The Vatican is now admitting that Father Lawrence C. Murphy raped 200 boys at a Wisconsin School for the deaf from 1950 – 1974. The allegations started to surface in the early 70’s but no charges were ever filed against Father Murphy. The Pedophile Priest was placed on a brief leave of absence and then returned to the ministry. It is important to mention that Lawrence Murphy remained at the school for the deaf until 1993, and when he died in 1998 he died as a priest. A social worker who interviewed the Pedophile Priest says Father Murphy admitted to raping 200 boys and showed no remorse for the crimes.

It is also reported by The New York Times that three successive Archbishops in Wisconsin were told that Father Murphy was sexually abusing children but the bishops never reported the rapes to criminal or civil authorities. There was in fact a secret church trial in 1995 that was eventually halted after Father Murphy appealed to Prefect Joseph Alois Ratzinger who later became Pope Benedict XVI.

The Catholic Church has always taken the position that victims of Rape by Priests should simply “walk it off” as athletes would say on the basketball court. It wasn’t until the accumulation of financial losses from civil trials that the Vatican finally cleared its throat and released a few dry words of condolence for the rape victims.

If a stepfather was accused of raping his 13 years old step daughter and the mother was instrumental in not only covering it up but also creating situations that further subjected the child to more sexual violence, then she too would get charged with numerous felony offenses. For instance, the mother of the 13 year old could face Accessory after the Fact, child endangerment, and felony child abuse just to name the more commonly applied charges in a court of law.

According to recent civil court filing, Pope Benedict was fully aware of the rape that was perpetrated by Lawrence Murphy (The Rapist Priest), and did absolutely nothing because in taking action it could damage the reputation of the church and its archdiocese. When given the choice of turning over a pedophile priest to law enforcement, Pope Benedict sided with the one entity he was trained to defend at any cost, Catholicism.

It is the position of the Preacher Bureau of Investigations that Pope Benedict answer the charge of Accessory to Rape after the fact, child endangerment, and felony child abuse. On all three charges the Preacher Bureau of Investigations finds Joseph Alois Ratzinger aka Pope Benedict Guilty as Charged.

For more information on the Preacher Bureau of Investigations please visit their website at www.PimpPreacher.com
>>>

What do you think? If your boss was...Benny...and you knew he was hiding criminal activity at the company that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and ruin the company's 'good name/reputation'; would you hang around for the fall out? I'd be getting my resume out and quit ASAP, all the while I would be getting documentation to blow the lid off of the scandal.

You think there is more out there to be uncovered. How about the Australian nun who was excommunicated because she uncovered a pedophile priest? That was back in the 1800's. Does anyone honestly believe that if this behavior was happening in Australia in the 1800's that it wasn't happening everywhere there was a catholic diocese?

Obviously, the RCC has demonstrated a pattern of depravity that has only started to come to light.

They (catholics) don't even like to admit that several of their Popes were murderers, satan worshipers, whoremongers, homosexuals, and sexual deviants (acts of beastiality). It's all good...ya know...popes are infallible. Even if some were sinners...they were pope and can't be questioned, punished or removed from office for such acts in violation of their religion/superstition.

The LEAST this country should do is deny the pope permission to enter the country. Especially, since the RCC is still trying to hide evidence and refuses to make full disclosure of what was known, by whom, and when. It would be stupendiously wonderful (IMO) if his popeness was denied permission to leave the vatican...ever.

PS: The catholic church doesn't 'respect' democracy or freedom of speech. In my world, the Pope would have to stand for election. Of course, only registered/practicing catholics could vote. An election by the Cardinals isn't at all representative. Just as I wouldn't want the US Senate electing the President, the pope shouldn't be elected by the Cardinals. Let the people elect their Bishops...like the bible says...men of good character, married, with children. Start with that...
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[Ansar al-Zindiqi]

Ahhh . . . a continuation of this thread.

http://www.forum09.faithfreedom.org/vie ... f=7&t=6349

[Lyzandra Daria]

Hundreds of children abused by 20 priests

http://www.independent.ie/national-news ... 45362.html

Shocking new report to reveal cover-up scandal in diocesePhilip Boyce: Bishop of Raphoe will publish report

A shocking new report will reveal how up to 20 paedophile priests abused hundreds of children in one diocese over a 40-year period -- sparking a new cover-up scandal for the Catholic Church.

Clergy are severely criticised for the way victims and their families were treated in the diocese of Raphoe, Co Donegal.

The report is due out later this month.

It will come in the wake of a series of damning reports which have rocked the church with revelations about the scale of sex abuse in the diocese of Cloyne, in the archdiocese of Dublin and by religious orders.

The report, for the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, is expected to be published by the Bishop of Raphoe, Dr Philip Boyce, in the next two weeks.

It is understood the board received "total cooperation" from Dr Boyce.

The contents of the report are said to be "horrific" and outline a catalogue of allegations against priests who abused young children and senior colleagues who failed their victims.

"There were hundreds and hundreds of victims," one source told the Irish Independent, "and they were abused again and again while the church actively prevented investigations by the civil authorities.

"The Raphoe diocese, like others, was only interested in protecting the church and not the victims"

In one case the Irish Independent has learned about a priest who raped young boys in one of Raphoe's 33 parishes and was "sent away" for less than a month after the parents of a young boy made a complaint to the church.

The incident, in 1977, left the family devastated when they realised the priest was returning to the parish. The family were assured that the church had "dealt with" the matter and that no more incidents would take place.

The priest in question was moved through several other parishes over a 30-year period as the diocese failed again and again to deal with him. He continued to target young boys and abuse them. Gardai were never informed of the allegations.

When gardai did become involved in a number of investigations, the church was uncooperative, obstructive and misled detectives.

Even though the diocese had investigated allegations against some priests, no files were ever handed over to gardai and no records were ever found.

In another incident, the parents of one victim claim they were asked by a senior cleric if they were "all right" financially.

One victim, raped by a Catholic priest in the diocese, told the Irish Independent: "I cannot begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to seeing this audit being published. It will be like a dark cloud lifting off me.

Truth

"The cover-up by the church in Rome and here in Ireland is finally being exposed. I have no doubt Dr Boyce will apologise to people like me, but what we want is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

Another victim insisted the authorities had to go much further than publishing the audit. "In every walk of life, someone who covers up a crime or who prevents a criminal from being brought to justice is arrested and charged with helping an offender or perverting the course of justice."

The audit of the diocese was led by Ian Elliott chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church. The board was founded in 2006 and has compiled audits on six of Ireland's 26 dioceses.

A spokesman for Mr Elliott said his board 's report examined "the full extent of all complaints or allegations, knowledge, suspicions or concerns of child sexual abuse, made to the Raphoe diocese by individuals or by the civil authorities in the period 1 January 1975 to the present day, against Catholic clergy."

The clergy included all members of religious congregations affiliated with Raphoe.

Raphoe diocese press officer, Fr Paddy Dunne, told the Irish Independent he believed the audit would be published within weeks. "No exact date has been set for its publication but I believe it will be before the end of August," he said.

"It is very important that we are open and honest about what is in it and that we deal with all the issues which are raised."

The Raphoe diocese set up a child protection committee in June 2006. Bishop Boyce said last month that all abuse allegations are now reported to gardai.

Each parish now has two or more child protection representatives who train all church personnel who have contact with children.

>>>
The final audit will be out soon. Pretty soon there won't be a catholic church outside Rome, Italy. They will all have filed bancruptcy and be 'out of business' (hopefully).

I don't understand how the children or the parents of the children can continue to attend services. Has the superstition been so ingrained that no rational thought (with regards to the stupidity of continuing to worship) can be conceived of? Such a shame...but they really have no one else to blame for the rape of their children.

Parents did this to their own children didn't they? They forced their children to participate in church activities where pedophile priests could take advantage of their precious babes.

Aside. I remember something that was supposedly true a long time ago about the Irish fathers 'breaking in' (raping/incest) their own daughters to make sure they could be good wives. So why are the Irish surprised that pedophile priests have been doing the same thing for decades?

If society doesn't hold the perpetrators and their superiors responsible...Isn't it their fault if their children continue to be sexually molested/raped/abused?

It would be highly appropriate (IMO) if the people just stopped supporting the church until the church proves worthy of their support. Plain and simple.

Really, IMO, if catholics really looked at the qualifications of a priest as set forth in their supposed holy book, they would find that none of their priests or bishops (including his popeness) are (and have not been) qualified to serve and most certainly unqualified to perform the holy rituals that they so desperately require for the salvation of their very souls including commissioning/sanctifying/annointing new priests. One bad apple spoiled the whole bunch for centuries and everyone who thought they were 'saved' have actually been damed to eternal brimstone and hellfire. The real joke is on them.
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[Lyzandra Daria]

Suits filed over alleged pedophile priest

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011 ... 47046.html

CHATHAM - David Turrill’s life has been unsettled.

The 44-year-old Tilbury man has spent much of his adult life battling addiction and living on the streets.

“I laid in bed one night crying, and thinking ‘What is wrong with me?’ ” he recalled Friday at a news conference announcing that four civil lawsuits worth $8 million have been filed against the Roman Catholic diocese of London.

He said after that night he saw a story in The Chatham Daily News about men molested as boys by a priest.

He knew it was time to tell about the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of the late Father Bernard Alphonse Robert, who was his parish priest at St. Francis Xavier parish in Tilbury.

Robert was parish priest there during the 1970s and 1980s.

According to a statement of claim filed by the London law firm Ledroit Beckett Litigation Lawyers, Robert sexually abused Turrill for five years starting when he was a 10-year-old altar boy.

“It eats at your soul, your spirit,” Turrill said, fighting tears. “Your innocence is stolen. That’s not supposed to happen to kids.”

He said he continues to go to church but doesn’t practise the Catholic faith.
“I don’t blame God,” he said.

Diocese spokesperson Mark Adkinson confirmed the organization received four claims from men alleging sexual misconduct by Robert.

He said the priest retired in 1993 and died in 1996 at the age of 72.

“We are sorry for all of the hurt victims have experienced. We are committed to living up to our responsibilities and obligations to victims of sexual misconduct in the search for justice and truth,” he said. “The victims who have come forward are making a difference and we thank them for doing so.”

The law firm alleges the diocese heard allegations about Robert in 1999 but Adkinson said he’s not aware of that.

“There’s an allegation that came forward in 2004,” he said, adding to his knowledge that’s the first time the diocese learned of allegations.

He said all victims of sexual misconduct by clergy are offered counselling by the diocese.

Turrill said for years he scoffed at the idea of getting professional help to deal with the abuse he endured. However, he said talking to a counsellor has helped him come to terms with the guilt and shame that ruined his life for so many years.

Tilbury resident Denis Robert, 45, isn’t related to the priest who he said abused him for more than three years, beginning when he was 10 years old.

He said St. Francis Xavier church was supposed to be a refuge. A place to commune with God. Instead, it robbed him of his innocence.

“They gain your trust, they tell you how good you are and then they rip your childhood away,” he said of pedophile priests. “Father Robert was a predator.”

Both men said they came forward to shed light on the issue of sexual abuse by clergy and to hold the diocese accountable.

“The shame is his, it’s not mine — not any longer,” Robert said.

Two other men, who don’t wish to be identified, have also filed lawsuits of alleged abuse.

Lawyer Aaron Lealess said a fifth man has now come forward.

“Father Robert had an unusually high compliment of altar boys,” he said.

“Tilbury was not Father Robert’s only assignment,” he noted, adding the law firm believes there are more victims out there.

Robert served at St. Mary’s in Blenheim from 1958-1969, at St. Matthew’s in Alvinston and Our Lady Help of Christians in Watford from 1969-1973, and Holy Family in Wallaceburg from 1989-1993.

>>>
At least this man shows some intelligence. He left the catholic church. Therefore, he is no longer supporting an organization that facilitated the rape/molestation of children by pedophile priests. Good for him.

Now if others would do the same and stop supporting the RCC, there will be far fewer pedophile priests and far fewer places for them to hide out from justice.
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[Lyzandra Daria]

Mass. group discloses new names of accused priests

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... fe14101125

BOSTON (AP) — A watchdog group frustrated that Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston hasn't released a promised list of suspected pedophile priests in his archdiocese is disclosing the names of nine who were accused of abuse and haven't been named. All are believed to be dead.

On Thursday, the group BishopAccountability.org urged the head of a powerful lay advisory committee, the archdiocese's review board, to pressure O'Malley to act.

In 2009, O'Malley wrote he was considering improving policy on releasing information about accused clergy. The archdiocese said Thursday it's made "substantial progress" on what it called an "important undertaking," but did not indicate when the list might be released

Clergy sex abuse victims say the public airing of the name of a priest accused of abuse is a vital step toward healing.

>>>
More names, more disclosures. Isn't the Massachusettes catholic church filing for bancruptcy?

Will there ever be an end to pedophile priests in the RCC? I find it highly unlikely. The structure of the priesthood (in direct contradiction to the biblical qualifications for priesthood and bishops) almost insures (IMO) that the RCC will be full of perverts for the next several generations.

My recommendation...don't join. Keep your kids away. Don't support an organization that protects pedophiles. SUE. Make the church in your community sell its property(ies) and file for bancruptcy. Make them PAY for violating children's (not to mention the parents) trust. Make them PAY for shuffling pedophiles around to continue to rape/molest innocent children. Make them PAY right here on earth. Because you know, they believe if they repent they will be forgiven by their god and receive a reward for all the pain they have caused. Even if I don't believe they will ever be forgiven and if there is a hell they will surely go there...they should have a sneak preview of what will be next before they are allowed to die.

I even suggest the pillary be put back in use. Put these ba$tards in the stocks and let people throw rotten fruit/vegetables at them for a week...or longer... . If not, how about just a little flogging? Come on, they are probably used to that anyway. Only make the flogging PUBLIC. Let everyone (who wants) watch the priests get a few lashes. Might make it mandatory viewing for all priests from the Archdiocese. Bring the picnic lunch and enjoy the show.
>>>>

[Lyzandra Daria]

Levy proposed for Dublin Catholics as church faces bankruptcy

Leaked document says child abuse compensation payouts have brought many parishes in Irish capital close to financial collapse

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/au ... bankruptcy

Reparations for child abuse victims and the recession have brought Ireland's largest Catholic diocese to the brink of bankruptcy, according to a leaked document from a group of priests.

The paper from the Council of Priests concludes that many parishes in Dublin are close to a state of financial collapse.

It cites the ongoing cost of compensation payments made to victims of clerical abuse, the death of the Celtic Tiger economic boom and falling numbers going to mass in the Irish capital.

The document, which was leaked to this week's edition of the Irish Catholic newspaper, proposes imposing a parish-based levy on Catholic families living in Dublin that would raise up to €3m (£2.6m) a year.
The priests also recommend cuts in the wages of religious orders and lay people working for the church in line with public pay cuts imposed to trim back Ireland's massive national debt.

A spokeswoman for the Dublin archdiocese has confirmed the existence of the document, saying it was aimed at addressing the economic realities facing the archdiocese. She said making no changes would have serious financial consequences.

Two years ago a damning report into clerical sex abuse found that the diocese had covered up the activities of 46 priests accused of abusing children.
It found the church placed its own reputation above the protection of children in its care.

It also said state authorities including the Garda Síochána facilitated the cover-up by allowing the Catholic church to operate outside the law.

>>>

LOVING THIS!!!

It's like watching the collapse of the Roman Empire in painfully and exquisitely slow motion. I wish the collapse would happen faster...but I'll take it.

[Lyzandra Daria]

And on the other side of the 'pond'...

Weakland, Sklba to be questioned as part of archdiocese bankruptcy case

http://www.jsonline.com/features/religi ... 99048.html

Retired Milwaukee bishops Rembert Weakland and Richard Sklba will answer questions under oath in October about the extent and alleged coverup of child sex abuse in the archdiocese, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley ruled on Friday.

However, that testimony won't be available to the public, at least initially.

Kelley granted a request by survivor-creditors to question the two, along with defrocked priest Daniel A. Budzynski, who is believed to have molested several children, as part of the church's bankruptcy proceedings.

The judge scheduled the questionings for the weeks of Oct. 17 and 24. But she imposed strict limits on their duration and ordered them sealed from public view.

"I don't want this on anybody's website," said Kelley, a reference to victims' attorney Jeff Anderson's distribution of Weakland's 2008 questioning, in which the retired archbishop referred to Sklba as his "go-to guy" in the handling of sex abuse cases.

"This isn't about embarrassing these people. This is about giving the parties relief," Kelley said.

Anderson's associate Mike Finnegan objected to the seal and signaled that they would seek to lift that.

"A lot of what is happening here is to make sure this doesn't happen again," he told Kelley. "This kept secret doesn't serve the common good."

The judge rejected the argument that public dissemination acted as a deterrent.

Also Friday, Kelley imposed September deadlines for the archdiocese to provide certain documents to the creditors, including summaries of all known accounts of child sex abuse and the abusers' placement histories.

The hearing shed new light on the size of the creditors' pool and presaged a coming legal battle over the inclusion of claims involving religious-order priests.

Anderson's firm alone represents about 200 clients in this case, according to Finnegan, up from about 24 when the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January. And at least two other attorneys have indicated that they will be filing survivor claims.

Archdiocese attorney Frank LoCoco said the church would object to the inclusion of claims involving religious-order priests.

"This is the bankruptcy of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee - not the Jesuits . . . not the Franciscans," LoCoco said.

Creditors attorney Jim Stang countered that a bishop must grant faculties for a religious-order priest to work in his diocese, and as such bears some liability for his actions. He cited precedence for their inclusion from the Diocese of Wilmington, where one-third of the claims in the bankruptcy, he said, involved religious-order priests.

"These people don't just wander into a diocese and act as priests," he said.

Peter Isely, Midwest director for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, who attended the hearing alongside victims, called the decision to expedite the depositions "a major victory for survivors and families in this community."

Victims have long sought to depose Sklba, who they believe has extensive knowledge of the church's sex abuse history locally and was directly involved in reassigning abusers. The church has argued to block any deposition or keep it sealed.

He had been scheduled to be deposed in the civil fraud cases underlying the bankruptcy, but the Chapter 11 filing triggered a stay on all pending litigation.

The creditors committee moved to depose the trio as soon as possible, arguing that their testimony could be lost because of their advanced ages - Sklba is 75; Weakland, 84; and Budzynski, 83.

Church attorneys argued to delay them until after the Feb. 1 deadline for claims, when the extent of the claims and allegations would be known, saying there was no evidence to suggest the bishops were in ill health.

But Kelley sided with the creditors, citing Wednesday's unexpected death of federal appeals Judge Terence Evans.

"My friend and colleague passed away . . . at 71," said Kelley, who recalled speaking to Evans in recent weeks.

"I have him in my mind today. He was healthy . . . and he's gone."
>>>

from 24 to 200 and 'survivor' claims (?) too...holy $hit. Smack em...smack em high, low, hard, and repeatedly.

Frankly, if the RCC wants to save its a$$...I'd figure out a way for these old coots to 'perish' quickly...of supposedly natural causes (of course). If they are allowed to reveal the 'dirty laundry' the $$$ will be HIGH.

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[Lyzandra Daria]

More...and more...and more...it just gets better and better and better

WILMINGTON DIOCESE: Oblates settle abuse claims

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/2011 ... /110805007

>>>>>

Trenton diocese to pay $1 million to five men in sex-abuse settlements

http://articles.philly.com/2011-08-17/n ... garabedian

>>>>>

Belleville Bishop finally surrenders

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/be ... surrenders


Highlights:

An 11-year battle ended Wednesday when sex-abuse victim James Wisniewski was handed two checks totaling $6.3 million.

Belleville Bishop Edward Braxton finally gave in after a jury found the diocese guilty of fraudulent concealment in the case of serial abuser Raymond Kownacki, a diocesan priest accused of molesting children and youth in more than five parishes during the '60s, '70s and '80s.

During that time at least three Belleville bishops not only moved the priest around but publicly recommended him to parishioners as someone fully worthy of their trust.

>>>>>

Ahhh....plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is

[tejpat]

You have opened a can of worms over here, i guess you'll be getting rebuts from christian theists.

[Lyzandra Daria]

You have opened a can of worms over here, i guess you'll be getting rebuts from christian theists.

>>>
Not yet...Maybe later. But, I'm entitled to my opinion...no matter how much the catholics pray this would all just go away. I and several others know that their prayers won't be answered. It is up to the congregants to protect themselves and their children from these (fake) holy men.

Or maybe I'm wrong...and god really wants priests to be pedophiles. Maybe that's god's plan. I'll even bet that some of these priests actually believe they are/were doing 'god's will' while they were raping/molesting children. And the bishops that moved them around to let them molest/rape more children truely believed they were protecting children (or more likely the precious 'reputation' of their holy institution).

I didn't make/let the priests rape/molest the catholic children. I didn't make/let the priests break their vows. Matter of fact, I didn't make/let the RCC violate the dictates of their own bible by forcing their priests to be celebate. Their own bible states that priests and bishops must be chosen from among the men who are married and have children so that the parishoners can see for themselves that the candidate is a good FAMILY man.

But then we also know that men who are married and have families can also be reprobates/slime. So...it comes down to who do you trust. The man w/ the collar claiming to have a special relationship with an imaginary friend...

PS: do you see how much the trip 'his popeness' is making to Spain will cost the Spanish? Upwards of $72 Million just to have the honor of letting another in a long line of despots grace their country with his presence. What an honor. I'm quite sure the Spanish can think of better ways to squander that much $$$.

>>>>

[Sten]

do you see how much the trip 'his popeness' is making to Spain will cost the Spanish? Upwards of $72 Million

72 million???? What the hell are they spending the money on, a 747 made of solid gold?!?

[Lyzandra Daria]

do you see how much the trip 'his popeness' is making to Spain will cost the Spanish? Upwards of $72 Million

72 million???? What the hell are they spending the money on, a 747 made of solid gold?!?

>>>
I thought he would be put up in accommodations that the church would provide. He needs a whole entourage (and 'security')just to take a pee. I remember learning something about a 'vow of poverty'. $72 million just to have this guy visit...ain't living in poverty. Maybe he needs a little dose of humility and be told...you pay your own way buddy.

As for the 'security'...I believe it is funny that he doesn't feel safe and thinks he needs security. What should he fear? Doesn't he have any confidence that he will go to 'heaven' if he is murdered? Besides...nobody wants to murder the pope...
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[Lyzandra Daria]

No unity among the rank & file...

Priests among demonstrators against Pope's visit to Spain

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-storie ... -23354740/

>>>>>

Is that Euros?

Spanish protests over cost of Pope's visit

Critics say pope's four-day visit to Madrid will cost Spaniards $144m at time of economic hardship.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europ ... 87362.html

>>>

Maybe 'somebody' was trying to tell him something...
Papal visit to Spain: Pope's speech in Madrid delayed by torrential rain and thunderstorms

A freak thunderstorm forced Pope Benedict XVI to cut short his speech to an estimated million young pilgrims gathered for the church's world youth festival in Madrid.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religio ... torms.html
Too bad 'his popeness' couldn't have been struck by lightening. That would have been a miracle, IMO.

>>>

And someone else complains about papal extravagances

Pope's Visit to Spain Comes Under Fire

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/eur ... 44783.html

World Youth Day organizers estimate the festival cost at between 50 and 60 million euros, not including security.

Organizers say 80 percent of the costs will be financed by church offerings. The remainder will come from companies and individuals. Corporate sponsors are eligible for tax rebates of up to 80 percent of the amount donated because the Spanish government has named World Youth Day as an event of "exceptional public interest".

The Priest Forum, comprised of 120 priests from Madrid's poorest parishes, is critical of the loss of state revenues, because the government has cut social spending and public worker salaries.

'his popeness' is going to need some good PR after this episode. I know...blame it on the poor.

[Lyzandra Daria]

Thank you to Ansar al-Zindiqi for the lead/confirmation

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6349&p=106412&hilit=+sexual+abuse+#p106412

>>>
Catholic church hotline in meltdown over paedophile priests

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... iests.html

...Pope Benedict XVI allegedly knew about one particularly disturbing paedophile case in the United States. The Rev. Lawrence Murphy spent years molesting children at a school for the deaf in Wisconsin, but when the case came to the attention of the Vatican many years later, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then led by Cardinal Ratzinger before he became pope, declined to take action. ...

>>>
I'm grateful for the (inadvertent or not) corroboration.

I told you that his popeness was GUILTY of collusion...aiding and abetting a crime. Rat-zinger knew. HE KNEW and did nothing to stop or prevent the crimes being committed by pedophile priests. SINNER...LIAR...FRAUD
>>>

[Lyzandra Daria]

Thank you to Ansar al-Zindiqi for the lead/confirmation

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6349&p=106412&hilit=+sexual+abuse+#p106412

>>>
Catholic church hotline in meltdown over paedophile priests

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... iests.html

...Pope Benedict XVI allegedly knew about one particularly disturbing paedophile case in the United States. The Rev. Lawrence Murphy spent years molesting children at a school for the deaf in Wisconsin, but when the case came to the attention of the Vatican many years later, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then led by Cardinal Ratzinger before he became pope, declined to take action. ...

>>>
I'm grateful for the (inadvertent or not) corroboration.

I told you that his popeness was GUILTY of collusion...aiding and abetting a crime. Rat-zinger knew. HE KNEW and did nothing to stop or prevent the crimes being committed by pedophile priests. SINNER...LIAR...FRAUD
>>>

And now they are trying to hide assets from the victims of pedophile priest...

Victims caught up in Milwaukee's 'shell game'

Archdiocese's move to shield cemetery assets pits the living against the dead

http://ncronline.org/news/accountabilit ... shell-game

Dead Catholics have a vested interest in reducing settlements to clergy abuse survivors in Milwaukee, thanks to a shift of $55.6 million on the church balance sheets by then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan in 2008.

Dolan’s move in the twilight of his seven-year tenure in Milwaukee has emerged as a major issue in the archdiocese’s bankruptcy, which his successor, Archbishop Jerome Listecki, filed last February. One expert who has done extensive research on diocesan financial statements has described the move as “a shell game.”

Listecki approved Chapter 11 protection from creditors in order to reduce the settlement claims of sexual victims of priests from incidents that occurred long before the tenure of either Listecki or Dolan, who currently is the archbishop of New York as well as a newly named cardinal.

In contrast to the clamor of victims, the 500,000 souls spread across 1,000 acres of sacred soil in Milwaukee are silent. “The Cemetery Care Claimants include deceased persons with no direct voice in these bankruptcy proceedings ... [but] a straightforward expectation -- that the graves, crypts and mausoleums will be maintained forever,” the church asserted in a motion filed Nov. 26.

This novel argument -- as far as NCR could determine, no other diocese has used it -- pits the dead against the living in a quest for money, lots of it.

When the archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 protection, it halted the discovery phase -- taking depositions and finding evidence -- in lawsuits brought by abuse survivors. Bankruptcy law allows the “estate” -- in this case the archdiocese -- to negotiate for payment based on assets. The abuse survivors, as plaintiffs, became creditors of the estate.

Dead Catholics have a vested interest in reducing settlements to clergy abuse survivors in Milwaukee, thanks to a shift of $55.6 million on the church balance sheets by then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan in 2008.

Dolan’s move in the twilight of his seven-year tenure in Milwaukee has emerged as a major issue in the archdiocese’s bankruptcy, which his successor, Archbishop Jerome Listecki, filed last February. One expert who has done extensive research on diocesan financial statements has described the move as “a shell game.”

Listecki approved Chapter 11 protection from creditors in order to reduce the settlement claims of sexual victims of priests from incidents that occurred long before the tenure of either Listecki or Dolan, who currently is the archbishop of New York as well as a newly named cardinal.

In contrast to the clamor of victims, the 500,000 souls spread across 1,000 acres of sacred soil in Milwaukee are silent. “The Cemetery Care Claimants include deceased persons with no direct voice in these bankruptcy proceedings ... [but] a straightforward expectation -- that the graves, crypts and mausoleums will be maintained forever,” the church asserted in a motion filed Nov. 26.

This novel argument -- as far as NCR could determine, no other diocese has used it -- pits the dead against the living in a quest for money, lots of it.

When the archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 protection, it halted the discovery phase -- taking depositions and finding evidence -- in lawsuits brought by abuse survivors. Bankruptcy law allows the “estate” -- in this case the archdiocese -- to negotiate for payment based on assets. The abuse survivors, as plaintiffs, became creditors of the estate.

“It is interesting that this action comes on the precipice of the taking of depositions of church leaders who have the most to hide,” he said.

While that is a claim often heard when the church decides to seek bankruptcy -- that it is willing to take this drastic step rather than subject its archives and leaders to scrutiny -- in this case the church is attempting to save its assets, too, by shuffling money to an account that neither the courts nor plaintiffs can touch. The church is trying to shield a major asset, $55.6 million, as a secure trust for perpetual care at cemeteries. Dolan shifted the funds in 2008 from one account to another on church balance sheets as litigation escalated.

When a diocese takes Chapter 11 relief, its operations continue, while debt-claimants joust over access to funds. The exact number of survivors admitted as creditors won’t be known until a court-mandated Feb. 1 deadline passes. Attorney Mike Finnegan with Anderson’s law firm in St. Paul, Minn., told NCR the number would likely reach 200.

The archdiocese, meanwhile, still operates its various services and ministries with a $25 million annual budget. When bankruptcy concludes and settlements are paid, the financial life of the church will go on, if on a tighter budget.

The situation is a far cry from 1995 when the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a ruling known as the Pritzloff decision, barred all litigation against Catholic dioceses for clergy abuse caused by supervisory negligence. No other state gave the church unique immunity from litigation. Overnight, cases in Wisconsin lower courts were dismissed.

Anderson subsequently brought a case trying to overturn Pritzloff. He not only lost, but had to pay a $40,000 court fine for filing the case.

“Wisconsin was a shut-out for clergy survivors,” Anderson told NCR. “We could not get a case in the door.”

A decade passed before the door cracked opened. A 2002 California law gave victims whose cases were past the statute of limitations a one-year window to file suit. As attorneys filed close to 1,000 cases against California dioceses, two serial predators who had transferred with good recommendations from the Milwaukee archdiocese were defendants in 10 cases. California courts ruled that the Milwaukee archdiocese was responsible for part of those claims, and the archdiocese paid $8.25 million.

Three years later, Anderson filed several cases in Wisconsin, accusing Milwaukee and other dioceses of fraud (as opposed to supervisory negligence) for failure to alert Catholics if church officials had assigned a pedophile to their parish. Although Pritzloff is still the law, the high court in 2007 gave standing to the fraud cases, which opened the floodgates.

In a Feb. 11, 2011, hearing for the debtors to gain insight on the assets, Anderson questioned the archdiocesan chief financial officer, John Marek.

“After the Wisconsin Supreme Court came down with a decision [favorable to victim-plaintiffs] on July 11 of ’07,” Anderson stated, “there appears to be over $55 million transferred to the fund in ’08. Are you aware of that?”

Marek called it “a unique, distinct fund that has always been held separately, held in trust. ... Those monies were moved into the Perpetual Care Trust that had been formed.”

Q: And what accounts were the funds held in before creation of the trust?
A: In the income care fund.

Q: Under the control of the archbishop?
A: Well, ultimately, yeah, I guess.

Q: Why isn’t it listed on these [archdiocesan financial statement] schedules?
A: Because we don’t own the trust.

Marek was referring to the Beneficial Interest in Cemetery Perpetual Care Trust, a pivotal issue in the proceedings.

NCR provided a copy of the hearing transcript to Jack Ruhl, a professor of accountancy at Western Michigan University who has done extensive research on diocesan financial statements. Ruhl is also a 1978 graduate of Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Wheeling, Ill., and was a licensed funeral director in Michigan for several years before earning his doctorate in accountancy at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Referring to the transcript, Ruhl told NCR: “When Marek says, ‘We don’t own the trust’, I would ask: Then why does the trust appear as an asset on the archdiocesan balance sheet? The definition of an asset is something that provides future economic benefit. When the archdiocese classified the [cemetery] trust account on their balance sheet as an asset, they acknowledged that the trust provides future benefit. The things we laypeople call assets -- our homes, cars, investment funds -- means that we own them, and to say otherwise in this case is misleading.”

On the 2007 archdiocesan balance sheet, Ruhl explained, the asset account with the largest balance, at $59.9 million, has a specific title: “Assets designated for future care of cemeteries and mausoleums, primarily cash and investments.”

In contrast, the 2007 balance sheet shows an asset account called “Beneficial Interest in Cemetery Perpetual Care Trust” with a zero balance.

“In other words, they zeroed out one account and transferred most of the funds to a new account,” Ruhl explained. “From an accounting standpoint, all Dolan did was rename the assets. It was a shell game.”

Isely’s odyssey

Bankruptcy is the latest turn in the odyssey of Peter Isely, 51, a Wisconsin native son with a master of divinity degree from Harvard University. As Midwest director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), Isely has relentlessly challenged three successive archbishops -- Rembert Weakland, Dolan and now Listecki -- to identify clergy predators and do right by the victims. For years, however, the Pritzloff decision foreclosed any chance at civil redress for the dozens of victims Isely got to know after going public with his own story (see sidebar).

Isely is not a plaintiff; he draws a salary of less than $50,000 from SNAP. But with the bankruptcy under way, at whatever level the settlements finally pay, the moral agenda Isely has pushed on the church has, in a very real sense, prevailed.

An activist to his marrow, Isely is married to his college girlfriend; they have a teenage son. Roving the city, operating out of a cluttered car, coffee shops and eateries on the hoof, Isely with his BlackBerry and laptop has been a catalyst in media coverage, often countering church officials’ accounts.

In April 2002, The Washington Post reported that the archdiocese shredded internal documents on victims and perpetrators in 1999 with the agreement of its insurance companies. In June 2002, Dolan left St. Louis to succeed Weakland as archbishop of Milwaukee. Weakland had resigned that May after ABC News reported that he had paid $450,000 from church funds in a settlement with a former lover, Paul Marcoux. Dolan, the gregarious, glad-handing Midwesterner, stood out in high relief from Weakland, the Benedictine prelate who maintained a rather detached approach to victims and who was harboring the secret of his homosexual affair.

Dolan met with Isely early and often, and with survivors in emotion-fraught sessions. As Anderson filed lawsuits alleging fraud, Project Benjamin, a Weakland-designed archdiocesan therapy program to reconcile victims and church, became Dolan’s inherited baggage.

“Victims contacting Project Benjamin had been told, ‘You can’t sue the church in Wisconsin, so you’re not going to get any money,’ ” Isely said. “The treatment was church-managed, terminated at will despite recommendations of [therapeutic] providers.” A part-time director of Project Benjamin conceded it was flawed. A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial called for the archdiocese to replace it. Dolan folded Project Benjamin, and eventually started a different therapy program.

Isely intensified their dialogue, pushing for a structured mediation, using as a template the group settlement Anderson had forged in September 2002 for victims of Benedictines at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn. But with five lawsuits pending in 2002, Milwaukee archdiocesan attorney Matt Flynn told Anderson that his clients could only expect therapy costs. Anderson told the press: “He said, ‘You’re going to lose anyway so we’ll throw a crumb to your clients if you drop these cases.’ ”

On Dec. 20, 2002, Dolan sent SNAP members a letter:

I was accused at a press conference of ignoring [Anderson’s invitation to negotiate], and charged by Mr. Anderson of “throwing crumbs.”

I have a sacred duty to help victims, but I also have a sacred duty to protect the patrimony of the archdiocese, which is not mine, but the people’s, who have entrusted it to me to be used for the extensive ministries of the church in teaching, serving and sanctifying.

Whatever Flynn’s actual words to Anderson, the ensuing antler-dance could only have come because the church attorney was confident in the shield that Pritzloff provided. But Dolan conceded to his own weakness in a handwritten letter to Isely on Dec. 22.

You have especially inspired me with your own witness to faith, your own return to the church, and your constant reference to the soul of those who have suffered. ... Once, you told me that your wife was so apprehensive that you would be again disappointed because “Dolan would let you down.” She cautioned you not to put your trust in me. She is a very wise woman, Peter. I am afraid I will let you down. Listen to her: do not put your trust in me. You often speak eloquently about your own imperfection and sin. I’m in the same boat. I am imperfect, sinful, struggling, clumsy. I have learned not to trust myself.

But as Isely kept communicating with Dolan, the prelate leaned toward a negotiated settlement. Victims’ advocates kept pressure on the church by pushing the state legislature to pass a bill that would open the statute of limitations, which the church fought and defeated. Dolan was dealing with another albatross from Weakland: the $450,000 settlement Weakland had paid to then-theology student Marcoux, with whom he had had a homosexual affair. Isely argued that each child-abuse survivor deserved at least half as much, $225,000. Isely wanted the church to identify all perpetrators and parishes where they had lived; guarantee counseling in perpetuity to those needing it; and mediate with victims of all Wisconsin dioceses.

Dolan began hinting at a bankruptcy filing as early as 2006. After the state Supreme Court gave Anderson a green light on lawsuits based on fraud, Dolan saw that Pritzloff was a porous shield, and transferred the $55.6 million into the cemetery account for perpetual care.

When Listecki became archbishop in 2009, he stuck with Dolan’s posture of trying to seek a structured negotiation in which the archdiocese would provide therapy, but the two sides were far apart on financial remuneration. The many California cases, meanwhile, settled for an average of $1.2 million per plaintiff, but the costs soared in a grinding five-year litigation ordeal prolonged by Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony’s refusal to release personnel files damaging to himself.

The Milwaukee mediation response was reasonable on extending therapy, but balked at a payment average of 50 percent of the Marcoux settlement.

Although Dolan inherited a disaster from Weakland, his approach avoided a realistic financial formula. Isely has since blasted Listecki’s recent proposal of a therapy fund for failure to be financially realistic, given that many survivors blocked from suing since 1995 are well into their 50s or older. By the time Dolan shuffled the $55.6 million into a trust for the cemeteries, the containment strategy, which had lost the Pritzloff shield, was crumbling.

Exempt from regulation

It helped that church cemeteries were unregulated by the state.

Most states have regulatory oversight of cemeteries, to make sure they maintain sufficient reserves for upkeep, but dioceses, as religious organizations, are spared such regulation in Wisconsin and other states.

“Here in Michigan our erstwhile archbishop, Cardinal Adam Maida, basically raided the Detroit archdiocesan cemetery funds to help build the Pope John Paul II Center in Washington D.C.,” author and mortuary director Thomas Lynch of Milford told NCR.

Maida “removed tens of millions of dollars from the endowment care funds of [Detroit] diocesan cemeteries,” Lynch wrote in a July 21, 2010, Huffington Post commentary.

“The archdiocese isn’t bankrupt,” Lynch told NCR, “but the notion of this archdiocese funding the John Paul II Center in Washington, D.C., while closing schools and parishes, has offended a few good people.” In the recent $22 million sale of the center to the Knights of Columbus, the Detroit archdiocese lost a reported $34 million of the $54 million it lent in building the complex on The Catholic University of America campus (NCR, Aug. 19).

Many states have public regulatory offices that oversee cemeteries, but churches are often exempt under the constitutional freedom of religion clause, as in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Lynch, a prominent essayist and poet whose books include The Undertaking: Life Studies from a Dismal Trade, is a second-generation mortuary director. He views Dolan’s creation of the cemetery trust, and Maida’s withdrawal of funds for another purpose, as opposite faces of the same coin.

“It strikes me as ironic that the Milwaukee archbishop [Dolan] was trying to claim the sacred status of the funds, protecting the grounds of the many deceased Catholics, while his brother bishop across Lake Michigan felt no compunction about taking out millions. I daresay there are similarities in mismanagement that have wreaked havoc on the Catholic church. You find abuse or deceit in every occupational group, but few have an upper level like the church so willing to hide it.”

Isely last saw Dolan on Good Friday 2009; the archbishop was about to leave for New York. Isely went to services. By Isely’s telling, as Dolan emerged from the cathedral, Isely happened to be first in line. He put both hands on the archbishop’s shoulders, and said: “I really wish you the best of luck in New York.”

“Well, Peter, I’m going to need a lot of luck in New York, ’cause I sure didn’t get much of it here.”

Isely withdrew as Dolan was engulfed by well-wishers.

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Ahh well the RCC is built upon the corpses of those they have deluded...they should be so proud of their superstitious cult.
>>>

[Lyzandra Daria]

Speaking of 'corruption' at the 'core' of the RCC

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/2 ... 35038.html

Corruption Scandal Rocks Vatican, Whistle Blower Archbishop Vigano Was Transferred Against His Will

The Vatican was shaken by a corruption scandal Thursday after an Italian television investigation said a former top official had been transferred against his will after complaining about irregularities in awarding contracts.

The show "The Untouchables" on the respected private television network La 7 Wednesday night showed what it said were several letters that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who was then deputy-governor of Vatican City, sent to superiors, including Pope Benedict, in 2011 about the corruption.

The Vatican issued a statement Thursday criticizing the "methods" used in the journalistic investigation. But it confirmed that the letters were authentic by expressing "sadness over the publication of reserved documents."

As deputy governor of the Vatican City for two years from 2009 to 2011, Vigano was the number two official in a department responsible for maintaining the tiny city-state's gardens, buildings, streets, museums and other infrastructure.

Vigano, currently the Vatican's ambassador in Washington, said in the letters that when he took the job in 2009 he discovered a web of corruption, nepotism and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts to outside companies at inflated prices.

In one letter, Vigano tells the pope of a smear campaign against him (Vigano) by other Vatican officials who wanted him transferred because they were upset that he had taken drastic steps to save the Vatican money by cleaning up its procedures.

"Holy Father, my transfer right now would provoke much disorientation and discouragement in those who have believed it was possible to clean up so many situations of corruption and abuse of power that have been rooted in the management of so many departments," Vigano wrote to the pope on March 27, 2011.

In another letter to the pope on April 4, 2011, Vigano says he discovered the management of some Vatican City investments was entrusted to two funds managed by a committee of Italian bankers "who looked after their own interests more than ours."

LOSS OF $2.5 MILLION, 550,000 EURO NATIVITY SCENE

Vigano says in the same letter that in one single financial transaction in December, 2009, "they made us lose two and a half million dollars."

The program interviewed a man it identified as a member of the bankers' committee who said Vigano had developed a reputation as a "ballbreaker" among companies that had contracts with the Vatican, because of his insistence on transparency and competition.

The man's face was blurred on the transmission and his voice was distorted in order to conceal his identity.

In one of the letters to the pope, Vigano said Vatican-employed maintenance workers were demoralized because "work was always given to the same companies at costs at least double compared to those charged outside the Vatican."

For example, when Vigano discovered that the cost of the Vatican's larger than life nativity scene in St Peter's Square was 550,000 euros in 2009, he chopped 200,000 euros off the cost for the next Christmas, the program said.

Even though, Vigano's cost-cutting and transparency campaign helped turned Vatican City's budget from deficit to surplus during his tenure, in 2011 unsigned articles criticizing him as inefficient appeared in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale.

On March 22, 2011, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone informed Vigano that he was being removed from his position, even though it was to have lasted until 2014.

Five days later he wrote to Bertone complaining that he was left "dumbfounded" by the ouster and because Bertone's motives for his removal were identical to those published in an anonymous article published against him in Il Giornale that month.

In early April, Vigano went over Bertone's head again and wrote directly to the pope, telling him that he had worked hard to "eliminate corruption, private interests and dysfunction that are widespread in various departments."

He also tells the pope in the same letter that "no-one should be surprised about the press campaign against me" because he tried to root out corruption and had made enemies.

Despite his appeals to the pope that a transfer, even if it meant a promotion, "would be a defeat difficult for me to accept," Vigano was named ambassador to Washington in October of last year after the sudden death of the previous envoy to the United States.

In its statement, the Vatican said the journalistic investigation had treated complicated subjects in a "partial and banal way" and could take steps to defend the "honor of morally upright people" who loyally serve the Church.

The statement said that today's administration was a continuation of the "correct and transparent management that inspired Monsignor Vigano."
>>>
Vigano will get no help trying to root out corruption in the RCC in America. The RCC is too busy hiding assets from victims of priest pedophilia scandal to look for corruption.
>>>

[paxi christi]

pmsl
what has that got to do with you opening post?
nothing.
you have give information from where,saying what?
lik ive been asked to do stop the copy and paste and do your work.
put up factual statements an evidence and i will listen.
other wise it hearesy. bollox in other words.lol

its infelicitous asking for hard evidence on here isnt it.

paxi

[Lyzandra Daria]

How about letting the International Court decide?

Hague 'court of last resort,' SNAP chief says

http://www.toledoblade.com/Religion/201 ... -says.html

[quote]They do expect their complaint to result in proof that the Pope and three other high-ranking Vatican officials -- Cardinals Angelo Sodano, Tarcisio Bertone, and William Levada -- were responsible for crimes committed by people who were under their authority and control and within the court's jurisdiction. [end quote]

[Lyzandra Daria]

Pressure is mounting...

NSS call for Northern Ireland child abuse investigation

http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2012/ ... estigation
>>>
More cases being brought to light...

Vatican investigating priests for alleged sexual abuse of minors

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/0 ... iests.html
>>>
More fallout in Ireland

Irish church tries to rebuild after sex abuse, still haunted by past and demanding truth

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/d ... land-Abuse
>>>

[Lyzandra Daria]

Just couldn't resist adding this bit of news...

German Priests Carried Out Sexual Abuse for Years

[quote]The church’s credibility regarding its commitment to an impartial investigation suffered a fresh blow last week when the bishops canceled an independent study into the abuse scandal amid allegations by the independent investigator, Christian Pfeiffer, that the church was censoring information.[end quote]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/world ... .html?_r=0

Now remember, just because Ratzinger is German, was in the nazi youth group (supposedly involuntarily on purpose), was the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany (don't know where these sexual abuse allegations took place in his jurisdiction on not) and was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (head of the Vatican office investigating the pedophile priests 'business')...doesn't mean he was aware that other priests in Germany were doing anything 'wrong'. (sarcasm)