Christopher Hitchens discusses the sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church and U.S foreign policy with Bill Maher.
Hitchens called the pope’s apology a request for “wiggle room” on the “rape and torture of children.”
“It’s funny because in this society… Even in prisons, there is a hierarchy of crimes,” said Maher. “The child molesters are the ones who even hardened criminals shun, or actually kill.”
“This is the one crime no one can think about without vomiting, that the once great, moral church wants wiggle room for,” Hitchens summarized.
“This present pope is the head of a state, a political state, as well as the church. So, it’s not just that the spiritual leader of a big cult is a proven protector of child molesters, but the head of a government is, with- has an embassy in Washington. Well, can he land here from now on? Shouldn’t Congress become seized with the matter? Shouldn’t the European Union be asking, ‘Can this guy travel freely?’ Isn’t he wanted for the foulest crime of all? These are questions that, I promise you, are going to continue being asked.”
Tags: Bill Maher, Catholic Church, Child Abuse, Chrisopher Hitchens, Cover-Ups, Ireland, Pope, Sexual Abuse, Vatican
Posted in Notebook | No Comments »
Pope Benedict XVI published his letter to the Irish church on the issue of child abuse on Saturday. What was necessary seemed clear. He had to acknowledge the cover up of the rape and abuse of children by priests, to take responsibility for it, and to show how he would ensure it never happened again.
But the letter failed to do any of that. There was no acceptance of responsibility for the now-established cover up, no plan to ensure that children will be properly protected around the global church, and no assurance that those who rape and abuse will be reported to the civil authorities.
The letter is clearly an effort to restore the credibility of a church rocked by the publication of three state investigations into clerical crimes and church over ups in Ireland. The Pope has seen all three of these reports.
And yet, disgracefully, he used his letter and this issue to attack one of his favourite targets, secularisation. We are asked to believe that the secularisation of Irish society led to abuse and cover up. In fact, it is the secularisation of society that finally led to the exposure of the crimes of the church.
The most horrific abuse was perpetrated, not in a secularised Ireland, but at a time when Irish society was dominated, socially and politically, by the Catholic Church. That the Pope appears to have wilfully ignored this established fact is a blatant and disgraceful deceit.
via Colm O’Gorman: Papal letter was a disgraceful deceit – Commentators, Opinion – The Independent.
Hear, hear!
Tags: Accountability, Catholic Church, Child Abuse, Colm OGorman, Cover-Ups, Crime, Ireland, Papal Letter, Pedophilia, Pope, Responsibility, Vatican
Posted in Notebook | No Comments »
A Vatican meeting between Irish bishops and Pope Benedict XVI gets under way today with the past handling of child abuse scandals on the agenda.
The 24 senior clergymen will take part in the unprecedented two-day talks after being hauled before the pontiff in the wake of the sexual abuse revelations that rocked the Irish church.
On the eve of the meeting, survivors of clerical abuse demanded leadership and accountability from the Pope and called for financial compensation for victims.
Four bishops already resigned over the damning Murphy report, which unveiled a catalogue of child abuse and subsequent cover-ups over three decades by the Catholic hierarchy in Dublin.
via Bishops meet Pope over child abuse scandals – Europe, World – The Independent.
Tags: Catholic Church, Child Abuse, Church of Ireland, Cover-Ups, Ireland, Murphy Report, Pope, Pope Benedict, Religion, Resignations, Vatican
Posted in Notebook | No Comments »
