Pope dismisses 'petty gossip' of sexual abuse allegations

www.guardian.co.uk...

Quote from source:
In Palm Sunday address pope says faith in God leads 'towards the courage of not allowing oneself to be intimidated'

Pope Benedict, facing the worst crisis of his papacy as a sexual abuse scandal sweeps the Catholic church, declared today he would not be "intimidated" by "petty gossip", angering activists who say he has done too little to stamp out paedophilia.

Addressing crowds in St Peter's square during a Palm Sunday service, the pope did not directly mention the scandal spreading though Europe and engulfing the Vatican, but alluded to it during his sermon. Faith in God, he said, led "towards the courage of not allowing oneself to be intimidated by the petty gossip of dominant opinion".

As Benedict spoke, the president of Switzerland, Doris Leuthard, called for a central register of paedophile priests to keep them away from children. In Austria, the archbishop of Vienna announced the creation of a commission funded by the church, but without church representatives, to look into Austrian abuse claims.

Are you kidding me? Petty gossip? This, people, is why there should be no religion.

If anyone or any entity had allegations like this about themselves or their company, it would be a big deal. There would be a field day with how many people could possibly be charged, but when it is religion, we turn a blind eye.

They are in essence above the law, they think it does not apply to them. In the end we are all people regardless of what religion you are in and when you break a law, you should be brought to justice.

For the church to get away with the allegations that have been brought before them and to call them petty gossip tells you something is wrong there.

Everyone, including the pope, should have appropriate charges brought against them. I don't care what they think, or what fictional character they worship, abusing a child is abusing a child. And as for abuse that is putting it mildly because it should be like rape/torture.

Brutal, absolutely brutal. The government get away with enough and now we allow our religions to do the same? What a messed up world we live in.

Any thoughts?

Pred...

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[edit on Mon Mar 29 2010 by DontTreadOnMe]

Well this dosnt suprise me at all. Just take a look at this guy he looks like a evil santa about to sporut horns.

Star&Flag for your great thread!

The comments and attitude of the pope, if indeed he said that, is both irressponsible and absurd. Child molestation is the second biggest sin after murder and the pope 1)downplaying the allegations 2)not taking corrective actions by punishing those deemed responsible sends a terrible message not only towards catholics but christians in general.

I never liked catholicism to begin with because of their oppressive methods, so these sex scandals only infuriate me more. (sarcasm)IT'S NOT OK if you lose your virginity before marrage and its not ok to seek a divorce when two people can't get along but IT IS OK for priests to moleste children.

That attitude is almost satanic or maybe it is satanic and we are simply too bondaged to admit it.

I'm disappointed by the need for "special committees".

These cases should one by one, be investigated by the regular law enforcement agencies who have jurisdiction over the reports/complaints.

Anything less implies special treatment, and persons who are suspected of being sexual predators of children should be treated the same, regardless of their profession.

yes, Im sure that he is distressed to hear the 'petty gossip'. I mean, what else could he possibley have to mull over in his mind that would upset him. This just shows how out of touch these guys are.

He himself probably has never done anything like this but what big cubes you have to have to even put out a statement like this at this time. They all suck and are now a punchline which to me seems fitting at this point.

This is sad.

I agree there should be no religion. I consider myself a spiritual person, but I feel religions are just dictatorships.

By the way, I think child abuse and rape is worse than murder - at least there can be self defense reasons for murder. I have been through it and can tell you it has the ability to completely destroy your entire life.

TYPICAL.

How can he pay attention to something that he has denied and brushed under the Papal carpets all his life?????

He will keep denying it- They will say he died of natural causes and get him out of there!!!!!

Petty gossip? The Church of Rome killed people for "petty gossip" during the inquisition.

That's what I dislike is the fact that this pope has covered up these actions before he took the role of pope. Disgusting to say the least.

That one deaf school makes me feel sick just thinking about it.

I think, screw the fact that these people are powerful, they are just normal people in any other country, so let's wait until he comes to another country and arrest them all for what they have done.

Pred...

He is brilliant , why you ask ?

Because with this one comment has focused the attention away from him and the cover up that he did have his hand in to the act of abuse allegations , brilliant !

This may have saved is position , this one small comment .

Crafty

[edit on 29-3-2010 by Max_TO]

reply to post by Max_TO


Think so? See I think the opposite. I think this will enrage a whole bunch of people because he used 'petty gossip' to describe what the church has been covering up.

I think more people will realize what it is that their religion stands for and accepts. Not giving part of your paycheck to God means your going to hell, and child molestation means a transfer of districts. Something is not right here....

Pred...

So why don't the police just move in and charge these guys ?

The victims complaints should be going strait to the public prosecutors office, not to some corrupt and secretive local Bishop.

There is absolutely no reason for the church to be involved at all.

If you work for some organization and break the law, it becomes a criminal matter, it is not up to your employer to decide your fate.

reply to post by predator0187



I agree and think its sick and inexcusable . I also think that the fact that the Pope had his hand in the cover up should = his losing the title of Pope .

But having said that I honestly do feel that his comment will focus the attrition away from his personal intervention and participation in the cover up and protection of abusing priests .

Time will tell and we shall surly see if he has managed to focus the attention on the act of abuse and away from his direct role in how this all played out .

The fact that he played a role in any of this and has not stepped down prove him to be a man of dishonor .

One more reason for the Church to adopt a completely hands off approach.

Any malicious or false accusations would be fully investigated by the police.
Any case proven, would result in the usual criminal penalties.

Whatever the outcome, the Church would then remain untouched by any scandal, however awful the crime.

Because the Church have knowingly covered all this up for DECADES, the Church now bears equal responsibility with the perpetrators.

reply to post by Silver Shadow


That's my point though, the entire church is in on this. The most powerful entity on the planet. This is sick and they should all be charged for accessory. Arrest them all I say. Get rid of all the prisoners who are in for a crime that doesn't harm another (marijuana for one, which has a huge chunk of prison space) and put ALL of the people who are behind this in prison.

Pred...

reply to post by BellaMente


Agree, that rape and child abuse is worse then murder and should be punished accordingly. The Church is taking the wrong stance with this. A real leader acknowledges a problem and fixes it fast. A leader does not sweep things under the carpet and hope it goes away to save face. Horrible. I had no respect for the catholic church to begin with... pathetic.

The Pope is filthy subhuman scum.

I am beginning to believe in the accusations of Satanism at the highest levels of Catholicism.

[edit on 29-3-2010 by Grumble]

Based on the replies given so far I stand by my OP . He has diverted the conversation away from his personal involvement and has isolated the topic to one that can be see as " fringe " i.e.. " arrest them all " , " worse then murder " .

Don't get me wrong as I agree but the fact remains that NO ONE is speaking about the direct had that the Pope played in the cover up and relocation of the Priest to a school for deaf kids , after the Priest was shown to be an abuser of children .

Should the Pope be forced to deal with his past , no not the past where he was a member of the Nazi youth , but the past as mentioned , him covering up and relocating an abusive Priest .

I would like to see that topic being brought up for conversation and made an issue that has to be dealt with and answered for .

The Pope should lose his position and if conversation deviates from that then it will only ever amount to yet another abusive Priest story .

[edit on 29-3-2010 by Max_TO]

reply to post by Grumble


I agree. Although I do not believe in God/satan.

The church tries to cover up the bad things and embrace the good things. Sounds shady to me, seeing it would be a lot better if they could admit their wrongdoings as that would prove that they have people in mind rather than a monopoly.

Pred...

What we are seeing here is the result of the Catholic Church losing it's faith.

It is beyond belief that an ordained priest that both loves and fears God could ever do such things, or knowingly allow such abominable things to continue.
The only possible conclusion is that these people no longer have any faith.

For a very long time Freemasonry has been infiltrating the Catholic Church, just as it has been corrupting and infiltrating everything else as well.
The highest duty of a Freemason is to protect his brother Masons from discovery and exposure, no matter how vile the crime.
Masonry is definitely occult and it leads on to satanism.

The results of all this, is precisely what we are now seeing, the destruction of the Church from within by Freemasonry and satanism.