Pope's Pastor Compares Sex Scandal to Persection of Jews

I can't believe nobody's posted this yet, unless they're hoping to avoid the resultant unpleasantness that's likely to result, so I guess it's up to me to get the firestorm started:

Pope's Pastor Compares Church Sex Scandal to Anti-Semitism

Quote :

While Pope Benedict XVI watched somberly near the central altar, a senior Vatican priest used his Good Friday homily at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to compare recent attacks on the Catholic Church to anti-Semitism.

The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa quoted from what he said was a letter from an unnamed Jewish friend, who said the "violent" attacks on the Catholic Church reminded him of the persecution of the Jews.

"I am following the violent and concentric attacks against the church, the pope and all the faithful by the whole word," he said, quoting the friend's letter.

"The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt, remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism."

Comparing the onslaught of allegations against Benedict and the Vatican to the persecution of the Jews was the strongest volley yet in the church's growing counterattack on its accusers in the Catholic sex abuse scandals.

Cantalamessa's remarks came a week after the Italian left-center daily newspaper La Repubblica published an article about the criticism of the Vatican implying that "certain Catholic circles" blamed the attacks on "a New York 'Jewish lobby.' "

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told The New York Times that Cantalamessa's sermon came from him alone and should not be considered an official statement from the Vatican.

He said Benedict had no role in crafting Cantalamessa's remarks and that furthermore the sermon should be construed simply as an example of a Jew who felt "solidarity" with the Vatican.

Cantalamessa, who wore the Franciscan brown cassock during his sermon, has held the title of preacher in the papal household since 1980.

Call me naive, but I honestly can't believe he actually went there.

Quote :

Jewish leaders reacted swiftly in response to Cantalamessa's remarks.

"The comparison between allegations of pedophilia against the Catholic Church and anti-Semitism are cruel and misguided and constitutes an unforgivable trivialization of the crime of anti-Semitism," author and TV host Rabbi Shmuley Boteach told AOL News.

"I sympathize with some officials in the church feeling under siege, but this is utterly unrelated to the hatred born of racial and religious persecution such as that which Jews have endured for 2,000 years."

A good deal of which came from the Catholic Church, IIRC my religious history correctly.

I'll let one of the victims have the last word:

Quote :

David Clohessy, an advocate for sex abuse victims in the U.S., told the Times that Cantalamessa's remarks about the Jews were "breathtakingly callous and misguided."

"Men who deliberately and consistently hide child sex crime are in no way victims," he said. "And to conflate public scrutiny with horrific violence is about as wrong as wrong can be."

Also, I read in another article that, contrary to what he apparently believes, the Pope is NOT above the laws of man. A lawyer for the UN stated that, technically, the Vatican is not a sovreign State, thereby meaning that the Pope is not immune from prosecution on the sexual abuse charges should the victims decide to push the matter. Though they'd be more likely to go after the individual priests involved first.

And people wonder why I am not longer Catholic.

What. The Hell.

Rabid Badger wrote:

The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa quoted from what he said was a letter from an unnamed Jewish friend, who said the "violent" attacks on the Catholic Church reminded him of the persecution of the Jews.

That "unnamed Jewish friend" sounds a LOT like the "ex-High Satanist/ritual sorcerer who remains anonymous for fear of his life" stories that circulate so often in Protestantism. And it's about as believable, too. Except just a little less.

Quote :

"The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt, remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism."

Ummmm... NEWSFLASH: there are aspects of collective responsibility in the Bible itself, too. As in, if a bunch of people collectively practice evil or encourage/support each other in doing so, THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT.

For fuck's sake, Catholic Church, where are your sackcloth and ashes? These men should be on their knees, lamenting, like the people of Ninevah when they repented; instead, the hierarchy in Catholic Church just seems like it collectively (oops, there's that word again!) wants to bury its head in the sand and go "La-la-la-la-la-lah, I can't heeeeaaar yooooouuuu..." about the whole sordid mess.

Nihilist wrote:

But either way, I haven't gone to mass in eight months, and I feel good about it. Just a shame for the people who go because they're devoted Catholics, and they don't like the way the Church is heading but do nothing about it. No leaving, just coming to church and praying about it. Praying is an excellent false bandage isn't it.

All the prayers in the collective universe aren't going to make this go away. Until the Church gets off it's holier-than-thou high horse and admits they've spent literally centuries covering this shit up, nothing's going to change. Except that more people will leave, because of disillusionment with their leader, who's supposed to be in direct contact with the Lord God himself, and the priests who continue to blindly follow the church's 'directives' without question.

Nihilist wrote:

In all fairness, I remember talking about Pope Benedict XVI in Sunday school, and I don't think anyone had good words about him. The teachers were "pray hard because this guy's going to be horrible."

They probably figured he was elected because he knew where all the bodies were buried. He'd been he was the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (AKA The Inquisition) for more than 20 years, after all. Yes, that Inquisition.

He didn't know anything about this abuse? Bullshit.

Malganis wrote:

Rabid Badger wrote:

The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa quoted from what he said was a letter from an unnamed Jewish friend, who said the "violent" attacks on the Catholic Church reminded him of the persecution of the Jews.

That "unnamed Jewish friend" sounds a LOT like the "ex-High Satanist/ritual sorcerer who remains anonymous for fear of his life" stories that
circulate so often in Protestantism.

No, no, the letter is genuine. What Father Cantalamessa does not say is that the quote went on, "On the other hand, Jews never really mixed ground children bones with flour to make Matzoh."

You know, I'm [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] about this pope, with his Hitlerjugend past, his permanent Emperor Palpatine sneer, his penchant for Prada shoes and gold-embroidered tiara, his reintroduction of the "perfidious Jews" Holy Friday prayer and general "let's get back to those good ol' times, circa 1600" attitude.
Because the charisma surrounding JPII made a lot of the most heinous aspects of Catholicism to go unnoticed, while the halo of darkness surounding BXVI makes them stand out in all their sordid, greasy sheen.

rachel wrote:

He didn't know anything about this abuse? Bullshit.

It's better than this. Guess who wrote and signed the epistula De delictis gravioribus, covering, among other stuff, the crime of priests having sex with underage kids? That's him - the German Shepherd.

Nihilist wrote:

theweirdkind wrote:

And people wonder why I am not longer Catholic.

In all fairness, I remember talking about Pope Benedict XVI in Sunday school, and I don't think anyone had good words about him. The teachers were "pray hard because this guy's going to be horrible."

People at your Sunday school must've had more common sense than those at my Catholic school.

Oh, GOD. No, NO, no. And pulling the "MY JEWISH FRIEND SAID IT THEREFORE IT'S OKAY" shit? NO

The Unoriginal wrote:

this pope, with his Hitlerjugend past

...yeah, joining the Hitler Youth was kinda mandatory, so I can't hold that against him.

Quote :

Guess who wrote and signed the epistula De delictis gravioribus, covering, among other stuff, the crime of priests having sex with underage kids? That's him - the German Shepherd.

HEY. HEY.

HEY.

German Shepherds are lovely.

And were also bred specifically to herd sheep.

Hey, comparing him to a dog is unfair to the dog. German Shepherds are some of the cutest damn dogs, especially when they're young and they can't get both ears up at the same time and all you think is "Oooh, whose a cute widdle puppy"...

*Cough*

Seriously, one took a chunk out of my leg when I was a kid, and I still think they're the cutest things. That is some damn high levels of cute.

Have you seen this Pope? He looks like a Sith Lord. Sith Lords are not cute.

I mish meh doggeh D:

show german shepherds are genetic fuckups with unsound hocks and they cant even fucking run anymore

that being said working gsds are fucking awesome and tehy are the best tarddogs ever

SirDixonDongs wrote:

show german shepherds are genetic fuckups with unsound hocks and they cant even fucking run anymore

They are the prefect specimens of their breed. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Rabid Badger wrote:

Also, I read in another article that, contrary to what he apparently believes, the Pope is NOT above the laws of man. A lawyer for the UN stated that, technically, the Vatican is not a sovreign State, thereby meaning that the Pope is not immune from prosecution on the sexual abuse charges should the victims decide to push the matter. Though they'd be more likely to go after the individual priests involved first.

Said lawyer is dead wrong, the Vatican is a sovereign state and has been so since 7 june 1929, not only that but they are recognised as a sovereign state by pretty much every single member of the UN. Seriously this lawyer is well into lala land if he thinks that the Vatican is not sovereign.

Well, granted, it's infuriating that the Catholic Church is looking more and more like it raped altar boys and covered it up practically systematically, and the kids definitely suffered, but to compare it to the Holocaust is a bit...

...

Wait, he's comparing people finding out about the rapes and criticizing the Church to the Holocaust?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

...

This is just another reason why I'm an agnostic on my best days.

What I'm getting out of this is, seeing no other recourse, he immediately jumped on Godwin before anyone else could.