"Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer."
The resignation is official on February the 28th.
This is the first time that a Pope has resigned in nearly 600 years.
So what is behind it?
Is it the Pope's age and infirmity as he suggests in the letter? Or is it something else?
Perhaps Don Corleone made him an offer he couldn't refuse?
ReplyDeleteHe got a plea deal from God........
ReplyDeleteI smell a rat.
ReplyDeleteA rat-ZINGER, that is!
He's creepy and boring and Catholics are falling away in droves, just as other Christian sects are losing followers. Look for Benedict to be replaced by someone younger, someone non-European, someone the church hopes will bring someone back.
ReplyDeleteSomething tells me this letter was as much as a surprise to the pope as it was to his followers.
"...Something tells me this letter was as much as a surprise to the pope as it was to his followers."
DeleteAmen.
"...someone younger, someone non-European, someone the church hopes will bring someone back..."
DeleteLook no further for your savior than the recent cover of Time Magazine:
Marco Roooobio
I suggest you watch the new HBO documentary "Maxima Mea Culpa" that just premiered this past weekend for a multitude of reasons why Ratzinger resigned. Pope Palpatine was in charge of reviewing all of the pedophilia cases worldwide for decades, handing out the hush money, and reassigning offending priests. Never once has this evil man expressed sympathy for the thousands of children who were abused and victimized. This issue is far from over, and the victims groups are going through the state department to unseal documents in the Vatican which have been sealed for centuries. Ratzinger is in this shit up to his eyeballs.
ReplyDeleteA pope hasn't resigned for over 600 years, and certainly never for health reasons. The last pope was wheeled around looking like death warmed over for years, it was Weekend at John Paul 2's until the old dude finally took his last breath.
Excellent post, Virgina Voter. Perhaps he's been getting his robes cleaned and pressed at an Irish laundry as well. More coming out about the Magdelene laundries selling babies for adoption...
DeleteWild Tortoise (who always washes my own shell)
Amen!
DeleteYUP. My take is that he is/was a pedophile, too, and the heat has been turned up on him, that someone has threatened to or IS coming out as having been molested by him.
DeleteHe's had the goods on all the lower level kiddy fuckers for eons, after all he was in charge of the office that handled that slimy bunch. That's how he traded his silence for getting the Papacy. He was not even in the high percentage to get it when JP2 died (and let's not get into how HE came to be pope.)
DeleteWell maybe we should...
JP1 was all set to clean out the pedophiles and the shady bankers, he was a pastoral pope, not a "popular" pope like JP2 or a CIA type like Ratso. He lasted almost a whole month before he mysteriously died. They rushed JP2 in and the world wide tours began, mostly to shunt attention away from the Vatican banking money laundering scandals (which also have come to light under Ratso) and the pedophile slime (which broke in 1980, Dallas TX).
This pile of crap goes back so far it almost has no end.
You beat me to it. I was gonna say how JP2 was propped up in his chair for years, half dead/demented.
DeleteI personally think it is age and perhaps a health issue that has been diagnosed to him. I also find him very humble in stepping down! Good for him! There is too much going on in the world today that needs a Pope's attention for the Catholic faithful. I suspect he is painfully aware he doesn't have the stamina.
ReplyDeleteBless him!
Well, JPII had Parkinson's. Doesn't hurt the brain, though.
DeleteMaybe Ratzi has Alzheimer's?
Pope resigned so his fat daughter can be on DWTS.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSince I would be in Catholic Hell anyway, it's OK that I laughed at this.
Deletelol 6:28!!
DeleteAnd also, too to progress the church by quitting.
He is not well liked anywhere in the world. He's managed to PO the Chinese, the Muslims, even Christians.
ReplyDeleteHe abolished Limbo and refused to allow Gays to become priests.
He turned a blind eye to pedophiles and protected them.
Now he's in the process of dividing the Catholics - there will be an old Pope and a new Pope.
the pope’s butler leaked internal information about Vatican workings to the Italian media, including hints of an infirm pope being manipulated by Vatican machinations. It's about time he stepped down.
You have to believe it's about sex, maybe he's going to come out.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention that. Years ago, he did confess to a "journalist" (Vatican shill John Allen) that he was gay and attempted suicide as a young man.
DeleteThe shill now denies ever saying that.
No matter; these korpulent kweens become more and more irrelevant with each passing day.
PS: Look up Georg Ganswein, Ratzi's....uh.....personal secretary. He'll make those retirement years hum.
DeleteOh Gay Org!!
DeleteOh, groan! -:)
DeleteWonkette's headline: "Pope Pulls A Palin."
ReplyDeleteHilarious!
DeleteBring on Peter the Roman! According to St. Malachi, he will be the last Pope before the Church totally collapses.
ReplyDeleteThe men in power in the Vatican were demanding their picked men would get to manage the multi-billion dollar church industry. They hoped to get a few more years out of a puppet pope while they built control in the College of Cardinals.
ReplyDeleteBenedict (and his less powerful minions) have pulled an end run with the resignation. No one on earth can make a pope resign. He chose to do it because he believes it will create enough chaos in the College of Cardinals to give his side a (slight) chance at retaining power.
I think the resignation shows a huge power struggle in the Vatican hierarchy. And that the wealth and power of the Catholic Church is up for grabs. Because the College of Cardinals is a crap shoot right now. There are closet liberals that are menacing the centuries of tight control.
The Vatican is about wealth and power, God is not relevant.
True that, not one of them believe a word of their won doctrine.. It has been about the lira for so long and the stupid followers send them more.
DeleteWell said!
DeleteIt's no longer about the lira -- it's about the Euro.
DeleteI think you are right. The Vatican banking scandal is hitting the fan, and Ratz is giving his two-weeks notice and skipping town.
DeleteThis pope was the doctrine promoter during Paul's popemanship. He was aware of the movement of all those pedophile abusive priests and did NOTHING but hide the movement of those perpetrators to other areas.
ReplyDeletePaul had to know of the sexual abuse because Ratzinger would have told him.
I have always felt that the "quickie" sainting of Paul was to get it done ahead of the revealing of the abuses.
There were people fighting through the Freedom of Information Act for the particulars about these predators inside the catholic church AND the church was reaching a point where they could no longer "closet" the facts.
Gotta get Paul sainted before the world finds out what a "sick" scoundrel he and Benedict were by hiding the sick priests shuffling that was ongoing, not just in the US but other countries too.
Now, the slavery by the nuns in Ireland and elsewhere of women to run their laundries (to bring in money for the church) has been revealed and that is horrendous and is not over.
During Benedict's short reign we also learned that there is/was a prostitution ring run by some members of the vatican choir.
It is called MONEY - the catholic church has never run in the black - check it out. Costs big bucks for all that gold filigree and all those velvet "dresses" for those "men."
The cardinals role was created in the catholic church to get money - only those who could "buy" their way into that position became cardinals with their contributions.
Read "The Agony and Ecstacy" translated from Michelangelo's own manuscripts, tells of abuse of the catholic priests and church.
Church is defined as ????????????? Christian means ????????????
I don't believe it! Popes never quit!! They hang on in sickness until they die. They usually have aides and staff to help them in their tasks, and a sick man can still pray.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, it sounds like there may be something else behind it.
Read this post from Andrew Sullivan for a good summary of Ratzinger:
ReplyDeletewww.dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/02/2013/nostra-maxima-culpa/
link goes to dish advertisement
DeleteVatican Bank Scandel.
ReplyDeleteMoney more importnant than sex.
He's either 1) taking over Sarah Palin's job at Fox News or 2) he's planning on opening a chain of day cares.
ReplyDeleteYep, he heard Sarah Palin turned down Roger Ailes' offer and wanted to throw his fish hat into the ring.
DeleteHere is the real reason
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/simon-napierbell/popes-and-vile-tongues_b_1209885.html
The Catholic quitter announces his quittin' on the Alaskan quitter's birthday. How positively fitting.
ReplyDeleteAfter Benedict’s Resignation Will Catholics Get Their First Black Pope?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politicususa.com/benedicts-resignation-catholics-black-pope.html
As a former Catholic (although, I think they call me "lapsed" as they think "once a Catholic, always a Catholic") who, due to that upbringing, now has absolutely no belief structure, I find this all very intriguing. I mean, why would that big guy in the sky allow his infallible one to be sick? How can you trust a deity who worries about football games (as evidenced by all the signs of the cross prior to kicking etc) but not his main man's health?
ReplyDeleteI have always felt that the Pope could do so much good for the world but seems more intent on feathering his own nest. Think of how much impact it would have on poor Catholic countries if he would say "Hey, I had a vision last night that told me to tell everyone that birth control and abortion are his plan and thus okay". Or "Since I made man in my own image, that means all people are to be treated the same." Instead he parades around in his silly outfit acting important. No loss to the world to have him step down. But I have NO hope that the next one will be any better.
Remember the butler scandal? Do you suppose one of the things the butler found was the secret Vatican stash of gay porn?
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps someone pointed out to Ratzo the psychological evidence that those who are the most vehement bashers of something are very often guilty of the very thing they are bashing.
I agree with anonymous @ 6:22. It was probably just as much of a surprise to him as to the world. You think US politics is corrupt? The corrupt power behind the Vatican is breathtaking, which is the reason for my rage against the sheeple who blindly support the bullshit.
one of the reasons for stepping down, in addition to the money laundering scandal
DeleteThere is also the question of whether he dies before he is brought before the Int. Criminal Court, along with three of his Cardinals. Charge - crimes against humanity. A case was filed there by child abuse survivers in 2012. The case makes fascinating reading.. its all on-line.
http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-c....zinger%2C-et-al
My first thought was "he's retiring to spend more time with his family". But really, start counting 'til the real reason [scandalous, o scandalous] shows up. And Catholics, those of you who still are, pray as you've never prayed before that the American Cardinal Burke does not become the next Pope.
ReplyDeleteI have a long time close friend that was molested by his priest for years when he was an alter boy. He brought a legal action and his entire family, each named in the suit received substantial money for their silence. Even though he was married with 5 children, it wasn't until he reached the age of 40 that his entire world fell apart with flashbacks he could not control. It is one of the saddest memories I have watching this loving, educated vital human being....husband, father and friend crumble with the shame of allowing it to happen, the guilt he felt contradicting his faith, which never wavered. We used to have long debates about his religion (I am an atheist) as I felt being Catholic was the worst of all of them....based on money and fear. All the grandeur and strict rules played out by old white men wearing flowing white and gold dresses and ruby rings living in a palace while many of the faithful live in poverty. I was raised Methodist, a much simpler religion...modest church with tons of community outreach, I even taught Sunday school. There is entirely too much hypocrisy for me to pledge my faith in anything but myself and the golden rule for we are all created equal, and love will always conquer hate.
ReplyDeleteSame thing happened to a friend of mine when he was about the same age (38). Devastating. He now now weighs 250+ and is a physical and emotional wreck.
DeleteHe has no way to justice. Statute of limitations, doncha know.
Don't believe those who say repressed memories are false or, worse, faked. He is ghastly living proof they're not.
Preacher Bob diddled us all and then passed the plate. He only got 4 years. Because I have been gay for as long as I can remember, some of the congregation labeled me a "Sodomite" and kicked me out and shunned my family. I was 11 years old. I lost "religion" a long time ago but sometimes memories can set me off (in my head) into a rage. I'm 75 now and feel free at last since my libido finally died. I never amounted to anything because of living in a closet with a bunch of hang-ups.
Delete@9:27 I'm so sorry you experienced those things. No one has a right to abuse or violate another person. I hope you find peace.
DeleteAnne in CO
So why did the Heath family leave the Catholic Church?
ReplyDeleteAnybody?
Not enough little boys in the family to molest to meet their Catholic quota. Besides, daughter/sister-fuckin is just so Fundie-centric that they had to cross over to fit in.
DeleteMorning Joe Guest Says Pope Benedict’s Legacy Will Be ‘Aggressive’ Handling Of Child Rape Scandal
ReplyDeleteThe news of Pope Benedict XVI‘s resignation from the papacy, the first such resignation since the year 1415, has led to, and will surely lead to more, whitewashing of the former Joseph Ratzinger‘s role in enabling priests to molest children. On Monday morning’s Morning Joe, however, host Joe Scarborough added insult as he sat mute while Father Edward Beck credited the retiring pontiff, “despite some media reports,” with “aggressive” handling of what he called the “sex abuse scandal,” while ignoring the fact that Pope Benedict XVI’s legacy includes being the first pope to be personally implicated in enabling a priest to continue molesting children.
The Pope’s resignation comes as a surprise, and has been greeted, by the media, with credulous repetition of Benedict’s “advanced age” as the reason for his sudden, once-in-600-years resignation, and tentative mentions of “questions” regarding his role in the Catholic Church’s child sexual assault scandals. As Pope, Benedict has made a show of reforming the Church’s handling of such crimes, and even apologized to U.S. survivors of these crimes. It is for this that Father Beck thinks this pope will be remembered.
“I think his legacy would be, for many, moving to a more traditional Catholicism,” Father Beck told the Morning Joe crew, then added that. “Despite some media reports, many see his dealing with the sex abuse scandal, even when he was cardinal, before becoming pope, as more aggressive than those previous to him. So to kind of get that ship in order again, in the wake of the sex abuse scandal, could be part of his legacy.”
He concluded, “Those two things, I think, will stand out, the move toward a more traditional Catholicism, and his handling of the sex abuse scandal.”
No one on the Morning Joe panel bothered to point out that this is a bit like saying a fox will be remembered for his henhouse security. Whatever you think of Benedict’s actions as Cardinal, and later as Pope, they cannot be uncoupled from his roles in earlier cases, such as that of Peter Hulliman, a German priest who admitted to raping children, was not reported to authorities, but was instead transferred, and continued to molest children for decades. From The New York Times:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/morning-joe-guest-says-pope-benedicts-legacy-will-be-aggressive-handling-of-child-rape-scandal/
No he won't. He will be afraid to end up like JP1
DeleteCardinal Ratzinger will be remembered for aggressively handling the pedophilia alright. He very aggressively covered it up. He even ordered Bishops to cover it up. Protect the institution at all costs; to heck with the children and women hurt by the priests. The sad thing: all that desperate protection of the institutional church serviced in the end to destroy it.
DeleteElizabeth 44
After they murdered Pope John-Paul I, for the unspeakable crime of attempting to bring the church into the twentieth century, and thus more relevant to the times, I will never see the church as anything but a corrupt political entity, only concerned with holding it's power and wealth. Much like conservatives of any stripe, they seem to prefer a past that never truly was to any conceivable future.
ReplyDeleteBefore you bring out the so righteous heavy guns and train them on me, I am speaking of the church here, not of the faithful, whom the church abandoned long ago.
The RCC is the bidness. The faithful are merely the customers who have been fleeced for centuries. Nothing personal, just bidness.
DeleteNo heavy guns. I sadly agree with you.
Deletehe basically gives a two week notice - like you would give for an ordinary job. Yeah, right, he is feeble in mind, if he believes people will buy his crappy reason!
ReplyDeleteThere is too much dirt on his stick and he hopes that it will not come out if he quits (sounds familiar? It should, because, after all, we have a QUITTER right here in Alaska that actually HAS gotten away quite literally with murder by quitting HER job...)
He has been surrounded by too much scandals, and will be remembered as the Nazi Pope with a false sense of fashion pride (look at his expensive designer shoes)
Will he be packing all of those brocade gowns in black plastic bags when he returns to the family bunker?
DeleteThe only way they'll buy it is if he dies very soon after his resignation.
DeletePope Zinger is going to be a co-spokesman along with The Donald for Hair Club for Men. Zinger actually has pretty healthy locks for a pedophile his age.
ReplyDeleteI'm going out on a limb and predicting the pope will be dead before the end of February. Why? They will poison him like they have others and say "see he knew he was sick." If I'm wrong will donate $10.00 to Jesse.
ReplyDeleteSorry but..10? a whole 10?..sad.
DeleteDid you know that those clouds of smoke that are released when a new Pope is chosen actually comes from the papel bong?
DeleteThose guys get all the good shit. No dirt weed for the pontiff and his immediate lessers.
DeletePresident Barack Obama issued a statement Monday paying tribute to Pope Benedict XVI, who stunned the world earlier in the day with his announcement that he will resign at the end of the month. Obama said he's "appreciated" his work with the pope since taking office in 2009.
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of Americans everywhere, Michelle and I wish to extend our appreciation and prayers to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Michelle and I warmly remember our meeting with the Holy Father in 2009, and I have appreciated our work together over these last four years. The Church plays a critical role in the United States and the world, and I wish the best to those who will soon gather to choose His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s successor.
Appreciated.
DeleteThat's the safest, blandest tribute he could use.
Have to wonder what Obama knows that we don't. He met the guy. If he's an astute judge of character....
I was raised Catholic and I have a memory of a weird story/rumor that went around among the kids of our parish when I was around 11-12 years old:
ReplyDeleteThere were some visiting monks that traveled around to different parishes and they came to see our CCD class each Wednesday nights for about a month. They would call each boy out individually to "talk" to him. Not the girls---just the boys. The story started to go around that they were asking some of the boys to show their penises to "prove something." (what it would prove, I have no idea, other than these guys were perverted child molesters)
I am pretty sure that what I remember more than likely really happened. I recall just being really, really glad that I was a girl and not subjected to whatever was going on. There was no one that had the inclination to say, "hey, that's too weird and wrong---we should tell someone" We just accepted it.
Those predators know what they are doing---and I have no doubt they are still doing it today. Maybe this resignation will start to blow the entire lid off the bullshit con job that is the Catholic Church.
They would say, of course, that they talked to the boys hoping to inspire them to become priests!
DeleteSame thing happened in our parish, only it was priests from South America, the ones from that school a known pedophile and special pal of Ratso ran.
Deleteomg 0840 am!!!!!!!!!
DeleteI am a girl, but you triggered a memory. I remember the boys being pulled out occasionally in my catholic grade school...we were told they were being talked to about becoming priests...individually....why not do it in the gym with all the boys....I bet they were being serially individually molested. OMG
O/T It looks like it's really gonna happen this time!
ReplyDeleteBibles, Badges And Business’ Unite For Immigration Reform
A new alliance between conservative pro-reform constituencies including religious leaders, law enforcement and the business community adds momentum to the push for a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.
On a conference call Monday, leaders from the Texas Association of Business, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and the National Immigration Forum joined former top law enforcement officials to announce the alliance, calling it "Bibles, Badges and Business."
"For the last two years, conservative leaders who hold a Bible, wear a badge or own a business have gathered in the mountain west, the midwest, the southeast and our nation's capital to forge a new consensus on immigrants in America, moving our nation closer to a 21th century immigration process," Ali Noorani, the executive director of National Immigration Forum, told reporters. "And across the country and on the hill, these conversations are turning into action."
He said "Bibles, Badges and Business for Immigration Reform" will not formally take positions on legislation but will espouse principles including creating a "road to lawful status and citizenship" for undocumented immigrants, respecting those who are waiting in line to become immigrants, modernizing laws for future flow of employment- and family-based immigration and recognizing the need for border security.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/bibles-badges-business-unite-for-immigration-reform
O/T Hadiya Pendleton’s mother to attend SOTU as guest of Michelle Obama, the First Lady
ReplyDelete“Never in a million years did I ever dream I would get a call about my baby being shot,” she said. “She wasn’t the violent type. She loved people.”
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/11/hadiya-pendletons-mother-to-attend-sotu-as-guest-of-first-lady/
This man personally and directly helped hide the abuse for which he was the church's primary person in charge of investigation. He knew everything.
ReplyDeleteMSNBC's Chris Matthews on Monday said that the successor to Pope Benedict XVI should be someone who can bring the Vatican hierarchy's positions on sex and contraception closer in line to rank-and-file Catholics.
ReplyDelete"You know, if you go to Catholic church every Sunday, you never hear ever, ever, ever a sermon on birth control because the Church knows that people who are most faithful to the Church — not all of them, of course — use birth control," Matthews, a Catholic, told MSNBC's Alex Wagner.
The outspoken commentator said the Catholic Church must modernize its interpretation of the role sex plays in marital relationships.
"Marriage isn't about having sex a few times and having a few kids and that's the end of it. It's about a loving, physical relationship for years till death, and sex is a big part of that," Matthews said. "And the Church has not really thought through that relationship. It's only thought about pro-creation."
Watch:
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/chris-matthews-next-pope-should-get-real-about--1
I heard a fire and brimstone sermon on sinful birth control once along with one on the heinous sin of masturbation from a parish priest who later resigned because of a molestation scandal.
DeleteMy sister's Catholic priest(s) occasionally mentions from the pulpit that women's shoulders should be covered when women are in church. The cowards are too scared to mention birth control. They just make it clear that women should expected to be controlled BECAUSE they are women.
DeleteNot A Resignation; An Abdication
ReplyDeleteGeorge Weigel, super-theocon, explains:
I think that is frankly the word in this occasion. A resignation is something that someone hands to someone else. Popes have no one to resign to, so this is an abdication. He has said that he would consider this. I am sure that he considered it thoughtfully and prayerfully.
It is obviously unprecedented, but I think we’ve all had the sense, both from the realities of a world where people live much longer than before and from the pope’s words, that this was a real possibility.
http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/02/11/not-a-resignation-an-abdication/
(As Foghorn Leghorn) Ah done I say I done been convoked, ah tells ya!
ReplyDeleteThose of us who view the entire nonsense of pretending how some GUY is holier than the rest of us, with polite holding of our tongue--must now say something.
The only GOOD thing I could say about this person, is if he is stepping down because of the shame of his organization's pedophile problem.
And yet, he is either lying about that, or wishes to continue ignoring it--with this explanation of how his "health" is impeding him.
With Pope Benedict XVI's resignation, speculation about who might succeed him when the conclave meets in March has begun. Any baptised Roman Catholic male is eligible for election as pope, but only cardinals have been selected since 1378.
ReplyDeleteHow about Leetle Ricky Santorum or Paul Pee Wee Ryan?
I nominate Father Guido Sarducci. He's great at counting the "Popes in the Pizza".
ReplyDeleteDid Pope Nazi-zinger resigned for the good of the people of Alaska, also, too? Roger Ailes was seen driving from Vatican City to the airport in Rome. Coincidences?
ReplyDeleteTune in tonight to Greta VanSuckUpFrozenFace as she talks to the former pope about his future plans and announces his new legal defense fund, the Pope Fund Trust, and new PAC for electing common sense, conservative popes On The Record. Also appearing will be Donald Trump to offer his expert opinion.
He's a fucking creepy looking being.
ReplyDeleteStolen from twitter
ReplyDeletePope announces resignation on birthday of Sarah Palin, patron saint of quitting stuff early
oh my god that is funny
DeletePope-A-Dope: Breitbart Editor Attacks CNN’s Piers Morgan And Soledad O’Brien For ‘Trashing’ Pope Benedict
ReplyDelete...Before Benedict, the last pope to end his run before dying was Pope Gregory XII, who, in 1415, abdicated in order to settle a sort of Papal Cola War, and the last one to resign was Celestine V, in 1294, after only a five-month papacy. At 85, Benedict is old, even for a pope, but there’s nothing remarkable about Morgan’s tweets.
Then, Starting Point‘s Soledad O’Brien, a Catholic herself, had the nerve to interview “left-wing” filmmaker Alex Gibney, whose “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God” deals with a case of decades-long sexual abuse of deaf children, and will premier on HBO later this year. Although Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger, was personally involved in that case, Gibney doesn’t bring it up, or any of Benedict’s pre-Papal history. He essentially makes the same observations that MSNBC’s expert did, only without posing the departing Pope as some kind of heroic crusader. “I think Pope Benedict’s reign, if you can call it that,” Gibney said, “has been defined by the sex abuse scandal,” and later added that Benedict had “gone hard at” dissenters, “drumming them out” for “questioning things like forced celibacy, or gay marriage, or the role of women.”
O’Brien did ask an excellent question, which Gibney did not know the answer to. “The last pope resigning happened 600 and some odd years ago,” she observed, asking “especially in light of the ongoing investigation into some of the scandals, what happens when a pope resigns?”
http://www.mediaite.com/online/pope-a-dope-breitbart-editor-attacks-cnns-piers-morgan-and-soledad-obrien-for-trashing-pope-benedict/
lol my brain read the first sentence as a pepsi cola war
DeleteI heard the headline on the BBC this morning that there was confirmation that he was resigning. Then NPR confirmed it here. Heard very few details on my way to work. Was extraordinarily busy and didn't have a minute to check the internet or turn on the radio. On my way home, all I heard was how his resignation showed what a humble, holy man he was. I didn't hear one mention of how he was in charge at one time of dealing with the pedophile priests.
ReplyDeleteI don't pay much attention to the catholic church other than to be appalled that the US Bishops that covered up pedophilia for decades (centuries?) have the hubris to try to speak about morality and how every life is sacred (except for those of the females of the species and prepubescent boys). At any rate, after work I hurried home, even skipping picking up an Rx at the pharmacy just so I could log in here and see what you all have to say. I knew there had to be some people, somewhere who might interpret this resignation as something other than the wondrous sacrifice of a humble servant of the lord. (I'll bet he has an Alaskan heart too.)
The thought that he might (as someone mentioned above said) be brought before the World Court warms my heart. (Not as much as seeing Cheney and his puppet on trial there, but not a bad 2nd choice).
I'm fantasizing that those good catholics, the Penn State Paternos, tried to bribe him with some of the millions good old Joe blackmailed out of PSU in exchange for his resignation into making Joe Pa a saint and the butler found the letter and Ratzo's response upping the ante for a few million more and the butler still has it. Sorry. I'm making no sense. No lunch. My blood sugar is low. Not enough glucose getting to my brain.
Or are we just raising a bunch of quitters?
ReplyDeleteSince when does the Pope quit because the job is too hard?
What does the church do with ex-popes? Where is he going to live? Food? Medical? Is there some sort of pope pension or retirement plan? The church has provided everything to him for so long, who's going to support him now that he's retired and unemployed?
Will he get disability from the Italian government?
(Yes, I am being facetious.)
Odds are the s--t is about to hit the fan. The last one to resign sold off the job for a load of gold and silver. I doubt that's what happens in PapaRatzi's case. As a successor I put forward Bill Donohue. Or, in a pinch, Bill O'Reilly. Both obviously mentally challenged.
ReplyDelete