Call for pope to step down over Holocaust denier

Consider that states often signal one another, and the rest of the world at large when they make moves like this. Bearing in mind the fact that these bishops had been in a state of excommunication for more than 20-years, one might justifiably ask, "why now?"

In view of the Turkish PM Erdogan's recent dramatic withdrawal from the Devos Conference, arguably his own way of signalling his strong condemnation of recent Israeli aggressions in Gaza, maybe the Pope of Rome chose to signal that the Church as well strongly disapproves of said recent Israeli aggressions against civilians by bringing Williamson, a percieved anti-Semitic Catholic bishop, back into the fold.

One test of this theory is to see if more states decide to jump onto the Israeli Slam-Fest bandwagon. Let's see what develops.

reply to post by The All Seeing I



Does this letter prove a priest was behind IRA bombing?

Voice from the past suggests Catholic curate masterminded an IRA attack which killed nine people

* Rosie Cowan, Ireland correspondent
* guardian.co.uk, Saturday 21 September 2002 01.18 BST
* Article history

Thirty years ago, three car bombs without warning ripped the heart out of Claudy, a small village a few miles from Derry. Nine people died. No one has ever been charged, and although the IRA is widely believed to have carried out the atrocity, it has never admitted responsibility.

This week, a local journalist and a councillor received copies of a letter which has once again sent shock waves through the community. It makes the devastating claims that a Catholic priest, Father James Chesney, masterminded the bombing, and that a leading cleric and a senior policeman helped to cover this up by getting him transferred over the Irish border and out of the jurisdiction.


Calls have been made for a full public inquiry into the role of clergymen in terrorism after The Observer learnt that three more priests were involved with the Provisional IRA at the time of the 1972 Claudy bomb massacre.

One of the priests was the IRA's officer commanding the Provos' North Antrim Brigade. He cannot be named for legal reasons.

The other priests who joined the IRA at the beginning of the Ulster Troubles were Father Patrick Fell and Father John Burns.

Fell served more than 10 years in an English jail over a conspiracy to cause explosions in Coventry during the early Seventies. He was convicted alongside Frank Stagg and Michael Gaughan, two IRA men who died on hunger strike in English prisons.

On his release Fell, like the priest who bombed Claudy, Father James Chesney, was allowed to serve as a priest in a rural parish in Donegal.

In 1972, Burns disappeared from his parish at St Theresa's Catholic Church in the Possilpark area of Glasgow. He fled back to Ireland after Strathclyde police raided his home searching for weapons and explosives. He was given sanctuary by fellow priests but later left the priesthood.

i could post more but why bother when you only believe the catholic church is above such things

[edit on 3-2-2009 by fatdad]

Two words.

Papal Infallibility.

He truly believes that he is guided by a higher power, and as such can do no wrong.

well that's their belief anyway....

When the last pope, John Paul`s mind started to show signs of dementia , there was quite a kerfuffle ~ How could a man with suspected Parkinson`s disease be infallible .... he passed away before they had to retire him .

The world that these men inhabit is so far removed from reality its shocking.
They rattle around their cloistered life , surrounded by the past ,waited on, speaking dead languages that only they understand .

They are relics. Creepy 80 year old virgins . (shudder )

reply to post by UmbraSumus

The world that these men inhabit is so far removed from reality its shocking.

I know it may seem that way, but these men may very well run the world.

ok fatdad i stand corrected... it never occurred to me... for what could pass as terrorism, the u.s. is the biggest terrorist and terrorist supporter in the world, in comparison the Vatican which is somewhere on the opposite end of the scale.

Originally posted by The All Seeing I
ok fatdad i stand corrected... it never occurred to me... for what could pass as terrorism, the u.s. is the biggest terrorist and terrorist supporter in the world, in comparison the Vatican which is somewhere on the opposite end of the scale.

so planting three bombs that killed 9 people and injured more just might qualify as terrorism in your world?.. im glad i don't live there it sounds nasty.

Originally posted by visible_villain
Call for pope to step down over Holocaust denier

Not going to happen.

Originally posted by Finn1916
supposedly he "Talks to god" more than anyone else .

Says who? The Catholic Church doesn't claim that.

Originally posted by n1zzzn
The pope IS EXECUTING the main belief behind Jesus Christ: Forgiveness

The pope is showing forgiveness AND he's allowing freedom of speech. Everyone, even priests, are allowed their opinions. What the idiot said is stupid, but it doesn't violate any of the doctrines of the church, and therefore the pope has responded correctly in this matter.

Originally posted by fatdad
the catholic church supported the nazi's...

:shk: No it did not. In fact, the Nazis put to death hundreds of thousands of Catholics. They put tens of thousands more into slave labor camps. There is NO WAY that the Catholic Church supported the Nazis. That's absurd. St. Edith Stein and St. M. Kolbe both were killed in the camps.

Suggested educational materials -

Akin, Jimmy. "How Pius XII Protected Jews"

Bottum, Joseph, and Rabbi David G. Dalin, eds. The Pius War: Responses to the Critics of Pius XII. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2004.

Dalin, Rabbi David G. The Myth of Hitler’s Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews from the Nazis. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2005.

Rychlak, Ronald J., and Michael Novak. Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII and the Catholic Church Saved Half a Million Jews from the Nazis. Dallas: Spence, 2005.

Originally posted by UmbraSumus
Two words. Papal Infallibility. He truly believes that he is guided by a higher power, and as such can do no wrong. well that's their belief anyway....

:shk: Where do you people get this crap? Jack Chick, right?

Papal Infallibility has to do with DOCTRINES ISSUED and NOT if the pope makes personal mistakes or sins. In fact, Pope John Paul II said that he went to confession at least once a week - old school.

reply to post by FlyersFan


I stand corrected,
I accept that this action of the Pope is not a issue of church doctrine.

Jack Chick , .... i had never heard of him before now .

"...... where do you people get this crap ? " ..... steady on there FlyersFan !

We are discussing an organisation who claim they are receiving assistance from the supernatural .

Indeed...... where do you people get this crap !

Deny ignorance .

I'm guessing no one saw the story I posted.

The Vatican announced that the Bishop must recant his views on the Holocaust.