Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing at the end of his weekly general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican May 2, 2007. REUTERS/Dario Pignatelli
Posted on 05/02/2007 10:35:16 AM PDT by NYer
The Vatican's official newspaper accused an Italian comedian on Wednesday of "terrorism" for criticizing the Pope and warned his rhetoric could fuel a return to 1970s-style political violence.
In an unusually strongly worded editorial, L'Osservatore Romano said a presenter of a televised May Day rock concert, which is sponsored by Italy's labor unions, had launched "vile attacks" on Pope Benedict in front of an "excitable crowd."
"This, too, is terrorism. It's terrorism to launch attacks on the Church," it said. "It's terrorism to stoke blind and irrational rage against someone who always speaks in the name of love, love for life and love for man."
At the concert, held every year in front of the Saint John in Lateran basilica -- Rome's cathedral where Pope Benedict sits as bishop -- one of the presenters, Andrea Rivera, spoke out against the Pontiff's stand on a number of issues.
"The Pope says he doesn't believe in evolution. I agree, in fact the Church has never evolved," he said.
He also criticized the Church for refusing to give a Catholic funeral to Piergiorgio Welby, a man who campaigned for euthanasia as he lay paralyzed with muscular dystrophy. He died in December after a doctor agreed to unplug his respirator.
"I can't stand the fact that the Vatican refused a funeral for Welby but that wasn't the case for (Chilean dictator Augusto) Pinochet or (Spanish dictator Francisco) Franco," he said between musical acts at the open-air concert.
The latest salvo between the Vatican and its critics in Italy comes a few days after the head of Italy's bishops' conference, Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco, received a bullet in the post after making comments that his critics say compared homosexuality with incest and pedophilia.
The Osservatore said Rivera's monologue came amid growing anti-clericalism in Italy which included graffiti and Internet messages supporting the Red Brigades, the Marxist group involved in political violence particularly in the 1970s.
"Some people have even twisted (Bagnasco's words) to start an insidious 'war', a new season of tension, which is inspiring those who are looking for motives to return to taking up arms," the newspaper said.
Prime Minister Romano Prodi, a devout Catholic who is backing legislation to give legal rights to unmarried couples, including homosexuals -- a bill opposed by the Church -- called for calm.
"We have to have calm and good sense," he told reporters. "Unfortunately the rhetoric has continuously been getting harsher over recent months. This country doesn't need it."
that's Reuter's version of a "devout" catholic.
I'm sure the angry musician was a "devout Catholic" as well--as are Nancy Pelosi and Rudy Giuliani and . . . well, just about everybody except the pope.
*Prime Minister Romano Prodi, a devout Catholic *
lol... i bet you wish reuters he was the benchmark for all catholics! and pelosi is also a “conservative”, devout catholic.
is there any use in writing to reuters and telling them what complete idiots they are? i guess not, since this is part of their own political game against the church.
Nancy Botoxly, Ted “The Swimmer” Kennedy, Tom Daschle, and John F———g Kerry have also claimed (when convenient) to be “devout Catholics”. They certainly make a big show of attending mass.....in between cavorting/conspiring with abortionists and gay activists 24/7.
Italy has been taken over by secular socialists. It’s very, very sad.
I sincerely think that the Holy Father should look very kindly on a religious Order of young men who had all served a minimum of 8 years in either the Delta Force, Navy Seals, Recon Marines, Army Special Forces, etc.
An Order that is meant to “keep order” if/when the Faith or Holy Father is attacked if you will.
;-o)
I've been called a lot of things by Catholics over various comments made or assumed, but "terrorist" was never one of them.
No, no, no!
I mean “no nonsense” priests who will then be elevated to Bishops and then eventually Cardinals, who have the capacity to terrorize any and all CINO heretics into (1) joining some other congregation through their “forceful” presentation of unadulterated Revealed Truth; or (2) who will undergo a radical and total conversion into the fullness of the Faith!
The old Jesuits on steroids, if you will! (with mortar training...)
ah, Cardinal Corapi
With 3 Purple Hearts, the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit on his cassock (what a nice dream....!)
So thats why we need a separation of church and state. The guy is apparently lucky the church isn't calling the shots here.
We can tell he’s “Catholic,” by his last name and the fact he’s in Italy. He’s certainly excommunicated. In what way is he a Catholic?
This has nothing to do with church and state.
The full context of the article makes it clear that they were referring to the escalating and irresponsible verbal attacks that do indeed lead to general or specific personal threats (such as the bullet sent to Cardinal Bascagno). This is mostly done by gays, incidentally. A breath of opposition to the gay agenda leads gays to run out and shriek obscenities at St. Peter’s Basilica; furthermore, they have the support of the Red Brigades, Italy’s recently revived Communist terrorist group. There probably will be a physical attack on some Church official soon, because the gays and leftists are creating an environment that encourages it and will probably stir up some unstable person to move beyond words.
Seeing how “terrorism” is an English word, you can be quite sure the Vatican paper didn’t use it. (I actually checked the English weekly edition to see what he actually DID say, but the article wasn’t included at all.)
Please understand that Italy is undergoing an orgy of anti-clerical violence now. Death threats have been made against several cardinals. The rule of law is collapsing. “Terrorism,” in English, denotes a savage destruction of human life; whatever word was used in Italian may have far more appropriate connotations.
The occasion was a visit by the Russian Foreign Minister to Pope John Paul II. They shut down the Vatican that day during the visit--no visitors allowed... It is interesting to see Vatican Square empty during the day...
This was on February 26, 2001 -- the Monday before Ash Wednesday that year and just after the consistory of 44 Cardinals the previous Saturday...
I wonder if they received a tip that something was going down? did you attend the consistory? what a great trip that must have been.
What Article of the U.S. Constitution, per se, demands a “separation of Church and State?” Inquiring minds would like to know!
Take your time...I have the rest of my life...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.