Posted on 03/25/2010 1:29:03 PM PDT by NYer
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican on Thursday angrily attacked the media over its reporting of sexual abuse of children by priests, saying there was an "ignoble attempt" to smear Pope Benedict "at any cost."
The editorial in a Vatican newspaper came on a day abuse victims protested near St Peter's Square to demand the pope open files on pedophile clerics and defrock "predator priests," and a cardinal spoke of a "conspiracy" against the church.
"The prevalent tendency in the media is to ignore the facts and stretch interpretations with the aim of spreading the picture of the Catholic Church as the only one responsible for sexual abuse, something which does not correspond to reality," the Vatican newspaper said.
There was "clearly an ignoble attempt to strike at Pope Benedict and his closest aides at any cost," it said.
The editorial challenged a New York Times report about the case of Rev. Lawrence Murphy, accused of sexually abusing up to 200 deaf boys in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Among 25 internal church documents the Times posted on its website was a 1996 letter about Murphy to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then the Vatican's top doctrinal official and now Pope Benedict, showing he had been informed of the case.
Ratzinger's deputy first advised a secret disciplinary trial but reversed that in 1998 after Murphy appealed directly to Ratzinger for clemency. The priest died later that year.
The Vatican newspaper said: "There was no cover-up in the case of Father Murphy." The Vatican said earlier he was not disciplined because church laws do not require automatic punishment.
The report came amid mounting allegations of sexual abuse by priests in Europe and pressure on bishops, mostly in Ireland, to resign for failing to report cases to civil authorities.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Ping!
NEWS flash.... IF they think they are helping their cause because they had NO laws requiring automatic punishment then they are in a very sorry state of affairs... Blaming media is NOT going to play.
Welcome to the club.
A smilar situation was attempted against Pope Pius XII many years after his death. Before and during WWII, Pope Pius XII and the church tried their best to save the Jews. Many Catholic priests were sent to the ovens trying to save these folks.
A pox on all these assholes trying to bring down the Pope.
It really angers me.
I wonder if there is any sexual abuse among the non-Christian Arabs and Jews?
I guess we'll never know!
This will not end well.
I’m so glad to see this! I believe that this is the right thing to do. It is a mistake to allow Satan to wage his war unchallenged.
P.S.
“A similar situation”
In “similar,” I mean that they were trying to bring down Pope Pius XII reputation by saying he was against the Jews before and during WWII.
It is all about bringing down the Pope and the church.
Wake up.
Figures.
We're talking about a homosexual bishop who was run out of town for paying hush money to a former lover and who was a long time antagonist of Vatican directives.
I bet he and the rest of the lavender mafia are exchanging high fives all around over this.
0 is trying to divide and conquor the Catholics. He is trying to paint orthodox Catholics as violent, child molesting “tea party” Chatholics and the liberal, godless, Catholics as the good Christians. The same thing he’s trying to do to all conseratives right now. Given what we are seeing here, what would happen to a conservative, orthodox Pope under a One World UN headed government?
Oh God!! Weakland!! The left is determined to undermine this Pope.
Near as I can tell, that would be Communists and Queers.
Heh. :)
:)
Seriously, though, it’s a disgrace, what’s happened since Vatican II. Looking back, how was this allowed to happen?
Lest anyone misunderstand, I’m referring to the gathering power of the Left and the homosexual and secular agendas.
The Church is all that is standing firm against the onslaught.
HOWEVER ...
"Modernism" had been explicitly condemned 50 years prior, yet the Church was infested with it. Teilhard de Chardin was a product of the 1920s ... he had many disciples.
Note that most of the priests and nuns, and ALL of the bishops who implemented the spurious "Spirit of Vatican II" had been trained and ordained (or consecrated) prior to Vatican II. Vatican II did not cause the destruction of so much of Catholic life, rather it was the excuse used by those who had wanted for a long time wreak destruction but didn't have the opportunity.
Many of these destroyers were and are queers. Queering the seminaries and inflicting effeminate "pastoral care" upon their parishoners was one method of destruction. It was tolerated and encouraged in many dioceses because the bishop himself was a fag. I offer Rembert the Vandal and the egregious Bernardin as examples.
The politically correct may protest, but faggotry and sexual abuse go together like stink and sewage.
Popes Paul VI and (to a lesser extent) John Paul II seemed unwilling to confront them, for a variety of reasons. This unwillingness would seem to have been an error in judgment. IMO. But they were in the hot seat, I was not.
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.