[NYer]

Is sainthood next? /sarcasm

[Reaganesque]

OK, so, the Jews aren't to blame and neither is Judas. I'm sure the Romans were quite conflicted about killing him as well. At this rate, scholars will soon "discover" that Jesus did in fact die of a severe head cold.

[magisterium]

Hmmm. Funny how, while it's true that the Church has never defined that any particular person is in Hell, there is solid scriptural evidence for only one man in the NT to be "extremely likely" to be there. That man is Judas Iscariot. Matthew 26:24-25 says: "'The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.' Judas, who betrayed him, said, 'Is it I, Master?' He said to him, 'You have said so.'"

Even if Judas had to spend a bazillion years in Purgatory, it would have been worth it for him to be born regardless, as the eternity of Heaven thereafter would make the stay in Purgatory a worthwhile means to an indescribably wonderful end. The fact that Jesus, knowing such a thing, still says that it would have been "better if he had not been born," certainly makes the prospect of Judas' salvation look inconceivably "remote." His "rehabilitation," in light of the fact that he is singled-out as the sole person explicitly named in the New Testament who is virtually certain to be in Hell, is an excercise in stupidity. I can't believe the Vatican would be so silly as to waste time on such a project. I'm *hoping* this was bobbled by the Times (not too hard to suppose!), or wherever they got it from, and thus it bears little resemblance to fact.

[Teófilo]

I don't think this "rehabilitation push" is ever going to catch on.

-Theo

[Campion]

He is supported by Vittorio Messori, a prominent Catholic writer close to both Pope Benedict XVI and the late John Paul II.

"Prominent Catholic writers" who are friendly with Popes are now sources of Catholic doctrine?

The Times is really reaching ...

[jcb8199]

Something I have never understood is the demonization of ANYONE involved in Christ's death. Christ was SUPPOSED to die--that was His PURPOSE on Earth. He died, taking sin and death with Him, and then rose from the dead, completing the conquest. So, if He hadn't been betrayed, how could he have died?

It's all part of God's plan, so to blame Jews or hate Judas for the part they played is, well, ignorant. The whole "Killers of Christ" is complete BS--what was He supposed to do, commit suicide?

[Dumb_Ox]

Signor Messori said that the rehabilitation of Judas would “resolve the problem of an apparent lack of mercy by Jesus toward one of his closest collaborators”.

What about the bigger problem, the lack of mercy shown in Matthew 25? In scholarly circles, it has long been unfashionable to demonise Judas and Catholics in Britain are likely to welcome Judas’s rehabilitation.

It's much more fashionable to demonize Jesus, when they're not trying to claim He endorsed the poltitical fad of the moment.

After reading this fishing expedition for press attention, for some reason I'm reminded of that Borges story about a scholar who decides that Judas was really the messiah and was now in hell.

[siunevada]

He told La Stampa that there was a Christian tradition that held that Judas was forgiven by Jesus and ordered to purify himself with “spiritual exercises” in the desert.

Little 't' tradition. That must be one extremely obscure tradition.

I think I'll rely on the Judge of the living and the dead in this matter. This kind of stuff is his business, not ours.

All we can do is speculate. It seems sort of pointless.

[Kolokotronis]

In Orthodoxy, Wednesdays are fast days and are the days upon which we meditate on Judas' betrayal of Christ. I doubt sincerely if this will play well in the East if this silly idea ever gets off the ground. You guys really do need to muzzle some of these characters.

[Nihil Obstat]

The Times botched the story:

"Mea culpa - Why it is important to directly read mistranslated texts/ The wrong Judas article in The Times"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1558208/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Just adding this to the GGG catalog, not sending a general distribution.

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[kittymyrib]

I'm sure next year during Holy Week we'll be treated to a sequel in which Pontius Pilate was really a closet follower of Jesus and sneaked Jesus out the back door and crucified someone else in His place. I am sick of the Jesus-haters coming out of the woodwork at this time every year, aided by their buddies in the msm, of course.