The mainstream media and even some conservative sites such as Lucianne are spreading defamatory statements that are misleading and false about Pope Benedict XVI.
What started this brouhaha?
Richard Owen of the newspaper site called the Times of London.
The headline reads “Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry“.
The article then states otherwise, but if Richard Owen didn’t write the headline to his story, he should request it to be changed immediately. It is apparent that someone at the Times hates the Church and is pushing their anti-Catholic agenda with this misleading headline.
It doesn’t help that a self-identified expert on Catholicism, blogger Ruth Gledhill, adds insult to injury with an off-base column blasting of the hierarchy and structure of Holy Mother Church:
The Pope is pretty unassailable. He is not elected, he is a monarch, and the centralisation that has taken place under the last two Popes has cemented that power. Pope Benedict XVI has also indicated in his three encyclicals the depths of his own integrity and intellectual rigour.
How much knowledge on the Catholic Church does one need to be called an “expert” on it? How to spell ‘Catholic’?
One of the leading Catholic journalists in England, Damian Thompson of London’s Daily Telegraph, calls Ruth Gledhill out that the pope is elected in a conclave and as Archbishop he never reassigned the said homosexual priest.
On this side of the Pond the fine Catholic journalist Phil Lawler breaks down the great error in reporting done by Richard Owen and others that try to implicate the pope in Germany’s homosexual pedophile scandal. He also points out the many fallacies in their reporting reinforcing what others have already said in defense of the pope.
This line of thinking is even infecting conservatives as well as liberals.
At the conservative site Lucianne, conservatives have come out already judging and condemning Pope Benedict XVI (see the comment below outlined in red):
‘Disgusting… we all knew this would go all the way to the top
That hateful comment was made by ‘dorsalfin’, and there are many more.
Lucianne has closed down the thread, but somehow some conservatives are still allowed to spout their hate in the alleged ‘closed’ thread.
To Lucianne’s defense the L-staff “permits headlines that are as written in news publications. We do not write them ourselves.”
The Vatican has already stated as much. Monsignor Charles Scicluna, contended that the future pope dealt firmly with the abuse:
…”To accuse the current pope of hiding (cases) is false and defamatory”…
The top American Catholic blogger, Father John Zuhlsdorf, added that the mainstream media has begun a suspicious line of attack on Pope Benedict being somehow responsible for the homosexual pedophile scandal in Germany with headlines that read:
- “ever closer to Benedict”
- “already come close to the pope”
- “particularly close to the pope himself”
I join him in calling to arms like Swiss Guards in combating this growing prejudice against our beloved German shepherd.
Let us pray for our Pope:
V. Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto.
R. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat
eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius.
[Ps 40:3]
Pater Noster…, Ave Maria….
Deus, omnium fidelium pastor et rector, famulum tuum
Benedictum, quem pastorem Ecclesiae tuae praeesse voluisti,
propitius respice: da ei, quaesumus, verbo et exemplo,
quibus praeest, proficere: ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi
credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Christum, Dominum
nostrum. Amen.
V. Let us pray for Benedict, our Pope.
R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make
him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the
will of his enemies. [Ps 40:3]
Our Father, Hail Mary.
O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look
mercifully upon Thy servant Benedict, whom Thou hast chosen
as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we
beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify
those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the
flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer from Father Zuhlsdorf.
_._
Update I: Lucianne has edited out the link entirely. Kudos to the L-staff and Miss G.
Update II: Lucianne has banned me for pointing out the anti-Catholic attacks on their thread and their response to the issue. Talk about swatting a fly with a anvil. That was one of my three favorite secular websites I visited to. No one’s perfect.
Update III: In fairness to the Lucianne editorial board, they did eliminate that contentious posting after it degenerated into an anti-Catholic forum. Miss Lucianne Goldberg should be given credit for that response.
If there is anything real that has come out of this scandal it’s that the media has completely clouded the issue to the point of rendereing any truth impossible to discern.
We should acknowledge that there is no such thing as unbiased journalism. ‘Fair and balanced’ is a joke and nothing more than a tagline. It should be plainly obvious to any one with a few brain cells that religion- particularly of the Christian sort- is seen as something gravely misunderstood, irrelevant and to be discarded by any means.
So who knows what is real anymore?
Damien Thompson of the Telegraph has a typically good response:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100029771/catholic-fury-over-the-timess-coverage-of-pope-benedict-xvi/
“Damned lie” covers it.
“Lie, lie bravely: something will always remain. Fling mud: some of it will stick.” Voltaire
Darwin,
I have that link up already under “calls Ruth Gledhill out”.
I asked why I was banned from Lucianne, and Lucianne herself responded:
You were blocked for no other reason than personally attacking this site’s editorial integrity.
The ‘attack’ she is referring to is me pointing out the anti-Catholic bigotry on her website.
Nice.
Lie hard, liberats!
Do you think they’d be so exercised if the Pope had had the pedophile water-boarded.
It seesm a Pope just can’t win with liberals.
Now, if he’d just come to see the light on abortion and gay privileges . . .
Mac, that’s not mud they’re flinging.
if this is a true statement from the link DarwinCatholic posted : “Then-Cardinal Ratzinger was involved in the decision to remove the priest from his parish assignment…”
it would seem to me that the cardinal was aware of wrongdoings by this priest, and should have acted accordingly by turning him in to the police.
i would have to know if this was a true statement though.
It’s become increasingly more difficult to discern the true from the false in the media today, especially the new media. But, to speculate what’s true I suspect this media frenzy was most likely created from within the Vatican itself. From within its own fifth column. Most likely the Jesuits.
Psalm 109 warns of the severe consequences for calumny ,(and how much more such would be esp. against a Father aunthority !) – how children of calumniators would be vagarant beggars and so on ; may be antichrist is trying to prepare a whole lot more people , esp. in Europe , to come under its power through the debt of such unrepentant sin .
At the time when Holy Father was even indirectly dealing with this complex area, not much was known of prognosis for cure of these persons ( we know better now !) and hope and mercy in dealing with the culprit, in imitation of our Lord dealing with Judas who was warned repeatedly , was possibly seen as more appropriate !(Only those who dealt with the sitaution could possibly know how much Godly wisdom was used !)
There are many priests who now a days have to suffer through loss of respect, unneeded fears etc ; due to these incidents ; now , they know that Holy Father , sufering with them , would esp. obtain the freedom in The Spirit for them too, uniting his sufferings , with our Lord’s – esp. from judas and thus help them too , not to fall under the enemy’s tool of hatred !
These attacks are possibly incited by the same powers who are against life itself and wanting to divert attention from the satanic hold on many parents who have chosen to use their bodies as murder chambers – the most severe form of abuse !
Prayers of the suffering Holy father wold be used by God , to bring victory there too – helping many to turn to our Lord, to plead for mercy !
May prayers of our bl.Mother and of St.Benedict drive out malice and spirit of calumny from may hearts and bring in the dominion of The Holy Spirit !
We need to pray for our Pope because he is comming under attack.There are horrific attackers of anything Catholic out there and we, as good Catholics, must continue our prayer efforts till Christ returns; we are all under attack because we are the one true Church. There is no more abuse in our Church than in any other so-called church. It is simply that we are the one true Church and that is a problem for the others who are not one true Church. And, many of the accusations against our priests are not even real; it’s just open season at this time.
Liberals are just plain horrible human beings; they are barely human. They represent everything awful in the world. They are truly of the world, which is basically evil.They have no respect for life but value murder. They love socialism and death. They simply know not what they do.
A question for the sake of conversation: is there a proper direction for our anger? Is there any element of the story that should illicit genuine frustration with the church?
Dam the Devil to HELL he has come in to our Catholic Church to try to destroy it with his LIES & EVIL ways. But he will not ever prevail over it !!
Jesus will raise it out of darkness …THE GATES OF HELL WILL NEVER PREVAIL OVER THE TRUE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST …EVER !!!!
The media could be wrong, but I believe in the wisdom of the Holy Father and whatever decision he made was the right one.
Clergy has to learn to take full responsibility for their actions and fear the judgment of God not of humans. If each consacrated priest did that , we would not have this overwelmimgly disgraceful problem we have today. The reason why we still have this problem is because priests have forgotten that some day they will account for it in the presence of God. Jesus said.” If you give scandal to even one of these little children, the punishment of Sadoma and Gomorra will be nothing compare to theirs.”
Why don’t they preach this any more from the pulpit? Instead they talk about the silliest things that only distract catholics and leave them totally umprepared to resist the tamptations of the world including tamptations caused by priests themselves. It is a disgrace!!! Let’s do somehting concrete about it!!! A sincere confession followed by a repented and contrite heart
Thank you
What a tragedy! For Satan to attack the Holy Father this way, by means of deceptive media propaganda means his reign of terror is nearing it’s end… Hold strong in faith.. We already know the outcome…
GOD WINS!!
Mother Mary, this is your beloved shepherd, your beloved Bishop who leads the entire faithful flock of Christ, your child…. He is under attack Mother..
Protect him..
Cover him dear mother with your mantle of love..
Safeguard him against his enemies,
against the enemies of the Church,
against the deceptions of the biased media,
O Holy Mother of God, look not upon our sinfulness,
but upon our desire to live your messages,
and intercede before thy Son on our behalf,
that Our Holy Father and Our Church be safeguarded
against heresy, lies, deception, malicious accusations, and evil persecution, Amen…
ST. Michael the ArchAngel, defend us in this day of battle
be our defense and our protection against the wickedness of the devil
God rebuke him! We humbly pray..
And do thou O prince of the heavenly Host
by the power of God, cast back into Hell
Satan, and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world today
seeking the ruin of souls, Amen…
Talk about over-reaction. The Pope is a man. The Pope is servant to all. The secular press is right: If he knew of crimes and hid them, he was wrong, period. If he didn’t know of them, fine, let him not hide behind his office. Frankly, I’m tired of bishops and “Popes” hiding behind “secrecy” and “dignity of their offices.” Cardinal Law, for instance, should be in prison, not the Arch-Priest of a Basillica in Rome…What a joke. If you Papists can’t see that Christ would have been ALWAYS AND COMPLETELY HONEST AND ABOVE BOARD, then you’re not even Catholic at all…I say, let the Pope speak!
We will continue to pray for our Pope Benedict, and the increasingly virulent attacks upon him. He is a holy man, totally deserving of our prayerful support.
John Lillis, you are entirely missing the point.. Articles are appearing in various news mediums making the false claim “The Pope Knew”
This is extreme biased reporting at it’s finest! And it only serves to destroy faith just as the horrendous crimes that have actually occurred over the years have…
No doubt horrible atrocities have occurred within our Church. No one here is arguing that nor sticking up for any priest who has in fact committed such a crime.. The point is, the media “greatly influences”… and when the media reports inaccurately in the manner that it is doing now it can be extremely damaging.. This type of reporting is not by accident.. It’s planned.. That means there is an agenda behind why it reports this way..
The agenda is obvious- destroy the entire Church… No priests- no Eucharist.. No Eucharist- no true presence of Jesus…
And just as utterly appalling as it is to learn “in truth” about horrendous crimes committed over the years, it is just as utterly appalling to have an innocent man falsely accused.. There has been absolutely no evidence that suggests Our Beloved Holy Father is guilty of anything…
Of course John, that might be a nice sentiment and it might come to pass… But it’s fair to assume that he is counseled otherwise, for even a sincere and truthful statement would be twisted and used to inflict more damage. There are those that will not be satisfied until they are the ones steering the Church.
No one here is claiming that the pope (or any pope for that matter) is immune to sin or wrongdoing or a mistake. I agree, there is nothing to fear in knowing the truth. But it is also naive to not acknowledge the media bias and spiritual warfare at play here.
Truth has a way of finding it’s way out into the open. Whether ‘the people’ are mature and educated enough to accept it is another question entirely…
The Holy Father was elected by the” Holy Spirit”-and I will quote from the Holy Bible from Jeremiah ch. 15 V19 where it says, the following. “They will come back to you,but you must not go back to them. I will make you a bronze wall fortified against these people. They will fight against you,but they will not overcome you because I am with you,to save you and deliver you-it is Yahweh who speaks, I mean to deliver you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the cluches of the violent. Stand up for the Pope as we listen to what God is saying to us today in His Holy Word.
Remember St. John Bosco’s dream of Two Pillars, it’s happening now but the Holy Father survive because he steered the ship between the Sacred Host & the Immaculate Virgin Mary, he won, enemies flees. ( http://www.markmallett.com/blog/?p=481 ). As what our Lord Jesus Christ said when He established His Church: …and gates of hell will not prevail against it ( Catholic Church ). And what Mama Mary keep on saying: Pray, pray, pray.
L.G.,
Please don’t generalize.
Be specific in your comments and abstain from the very same attacks that those like Richard Owen does.
Jo,
Please abstain from calumny. Your comment has been removed due to the nature of the attack on the Lucianne herself.
Question: Is the Pope that will be forced to go into hiding (as often prophesied)?
Why is it so difficult for us(any of us/all of us) to simply say, I was wrong. I am sorry. ? We were wrong. We are sorry. This was the policy. This is the way we handled this particular situation. It was wrong. We are sorry.? We will make reparation. We will act justly now by the grace of God. Why is it so hard to say, even now that the pattern is in the light?
TIesOnline is on a hunt for the Papacy to destroy the CHurch with false News. Now if TimesOnline is really a real true resource why dont the investigate PLanet PArentHood. Read This
——————————————————————————–
Planned Parenthood Distributes Graphic Sex Guide at Girl Scouts UN Meeting
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By Terrence McKeegan, J.D.
NEW YORK, NY, March 12, 2010 (C-FAM) – The World Association of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides hosted a no-adults-welcome panel at the United Nations this week where Planned Parenthood was allowed to distribute a brochure entitled “Healthy, Happy and Hot.” The event was part of the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which concludes this week.
The brochure, aimed at young people living with HIV, contains explicit and graphic details on sex, as well as the promotion of casual sex in many forms. The brochure claims, “Many people think sex is just about vaginal or anal intercourse… But, there are lots of different ways to have sex and lots of different types of sex. There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!”
The brochure goes on to encourage young people to “Improve your sex life by getting to know your own body. Play with yourself! Masturbation is a great way to find out more about your body and what you find sexually stimulating. Mix things up by using different kinds of touch from very soft to hard. Talk about or act out your fantasies. Talk dirty to them.”
The brochure also tells students that national laws requiring HIV-positive people to reveal their status to their partner(s) “violate the rights of people living with HIV” and calls for advocacy to “change laws that violate your rights.” It explains, “There are many reasons that people do not share their HIV status. … They may worry that people will find out something else they have kept secret, like they are using injecting drugs, having sex outside of a marriage or having sex with people of the same gender.”
The Girl Scouts, along with the YMCA have been co-moderating a young women’s caucus that included an “Intergenerational Conversation” side event on “universal access” and “reproductive health.” One recent Girl Scout project “aims at securing the right of women, men and adolescents aged between ten and twenty-five, to better reproductive and sexual health.”
Also at CSW last week, the heads of various powerful UN agencies, including the UN Population Fund, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization released a “UN Joint Statement” under the name of the “UN Adolescent Girls Task Force,” which calls for their agencies to promote and support programs “that empower … adolescent girls, particularly those aged 10 to 14 years.” One of the chief priorities for empowerment is ensuring access to “life-skills based sexuality education, HIV prevention, and sexual and reproductive health.”
The New York Times recently reported that the UN Population Fund had co-sponsored a very controversial curriculum with UNESCO, that included teaching children as young as five to be sexually active and training adolescents to advocate for abortion.
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women of America told C-Fam’s Friday Fax, “Governments and NGOs should be aware of Planned Parenthood’s insidious plan to work with UN agencies and girls’ organizations in order to profit from encouraging kids to be sexually active.”
This article reprinted with permission from http://www.c-fam.org/
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Ben,
The policy here is and has been in the light for some time. This story, considering its from 1980 is nothing new. Its not as if we are talking about a case that happened last year, indicating that the policy is STILL ongoing.
Plus, the more details that have come to light, the more it looks like Cardinal Ratzinger had an indirect and minor role in the case, even to the point where it has recently been revealed that the priest in question was in the Diocese of Essen, not Munich.
Read Leo XIII’s encyclical on Masonry and you will discover what’s really going on here, and from where the roots of the homsexuality in the Church came from. Read “The permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita” and you will discover more. Read about Bella Dodd, an American Communist Party official, who converted to catholicism and testified before the House Committee Un-American Activities Committee in the 50’s. It’s in the Cong. Record! She alone helped send over 1000 communist youth into seminaries. Many of them rose to become “bishops.” These demonics began the ushering in of the homosexuals into the seminaries. BTW-it is NOT pedophila,since most of these perverts prayed on teenagers, not children! We catholics MUST become extremely familiar with the message of Fatima!! It is NOT a matter of the past…It continues NOW!! Find out about the Five First Saturday Devotions to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the undone Consecration of Russia, and you will see what is going on in the world…..
The USCCB decides to NOT support Obamacare because of abortion and the next day the Pope is being attacked in the MSM. Coincidence? NOT!
Note to conservatives: don’t be a a tool for the Left.
i don’t see how people can make a connection between wanting justice for those victims of pedophilia and attacking the church. the catholic church is the one true church and the pope is the infallible leader of the one true church…. and if he runs a red light he should be given a ticket, and if he has harbored pedophiles he needs to go to jail. im sure he can write just as many encyclicles from behind bars, and i will be one of the first to read them and learn from them.
don’t confuse the two issues.
(The gates of hell will not prevale against our CHURCH )We could all see were this attack was leading to,satan wants to destroy our Church Through the Media and Television Stop buying These Newspapers and Turn of the T.V. are we going to sit back in this HOLY SEASON OF LENT ,and let The Media Attack OUR HOLY FATHER THE POPE AND OUR CHURCH FOUNDED BY OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST!NO we can not, We need to stand up for OUR CHURCH We Know What JESUS Said About The Luke Warm .Our CHURCH IS A PEOPLE NOT A BUILDING OUR CHURCH IS UNDER ATTACK WHAT ARE WE CATHOLICS GOING TO DO ABOUT IT,ASK YOUR SELF IF YOUR FAMILY WERE UNDER ATTACK WOULD YOU DO NOTHING!WE NEED TO PRAY EVERY DAY FOR OUR HOLY FATHER OUR PRIESTS AND OUR CHURCH OUR CHURCH IS OUR SALVATION IF ANY OTHER CHURCH WAS BEING ATTACKED BY THE MEDIA AS OUR CHURCH IS THEY WOULD NOT SIT BACK AND DO NOTHING ,BOYCOTT THE MEDIA THAT ARE ATTACKING US.OUR WEAPON IS PRAYER LET US USE IT PRAY THE HOLY ROSARY AS NEVER BEFORE Satan HATES IT.MAY JESUS AND OUR BLESSED MOTHER PROTECT AND BLESS OUR HOLY FATHER AND OUR HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH NOW AND FOR EVER AMEN GOD BLESS US ALL IN OUR BATTLE MAY THE NAME OF JESUS AND MARY BE FOREVER BLESSED.
Satan is at work big time.
St. Michael Archangel defend us (The pope, bishops, priests,and the entire Catholic Church) who are in the battle against Satan’s attack.
May Jesus be Praised forever. Amen
I don’t believe that Our beloved Pope would do anything of this sort. We need to pray for him more than ever and pray for the persecutors to open their to see the truth.
A cheap piece of reportage peppered with inaccuracies. I had thought bettter of Ruth Gledhill and The Times.
I now recommend all Catholics to reject this paper and but The Daily Telegraph.
I agree with Mr. Richard Collins. I’m especially disappointed with Miss Ruth Gledhill because she knows better.
Stop reading the Times would really help to send them the message of our dissatisfaction.
One sure sign of the hate and fear of people is the way they attack. They try to undermine what they do not understand. The Pope is loved and respected by many more than hate him and will continue to be so. Those who would try to take him down are doing more harm to themselves than to him or the church. Yes, it is true that the more you repeat a lie, the more people will believe it, but it still remains a lie. There is no getting around that. However, because it can never be completely irradicated, it is one of the unforgivable sins – calumny!! So do so at your own peril!
I love my Shepherd, the Vicar of Christ, Pope Benedict XVI. Just as they wanted to kill Jesus and they persecuted Him, so will they persecute priests, bishops and the Pope because they are Christ in the Church. Without them, we could not have the Eucharist. Jesus told us that we will be persecuted as He was. I pray for these sometimes misguided, sometimes hateful people. May God convert their hearts.
Other John and Posters Say: I am missing the point –that the media is destroying an innocent man… What a joke…I said IF he knew, let him say it…Period…And by the way: I am the media and been in it almost twenty years…I’ve stuck up for God/Church in Fox newsrooms, fought incestuous mafia in so-called Catholic radio, destroyed Bishop’s running family planning clinics in diocesan owned buildings. I’m married to one woman, am raising seven children, go to confession at least once per month, go to Mass more than just Sundays, fight liturgical abuses and DON’T NEED papists sobbing over the media saying that Joseph knew about this priest. If he was the Archbishop, he knew, period. If he didn’t “know,” my God, what was he doing? I think you’ll find that he comes clean and says something profound, like, I’m sorry for what happened…etc.
God help us if we can’t figure out that even Peter denied Christ before the cock crowed….
This attempt to smear the image of Pope Benedict,XVI is outrageous to say the least as he was regarded as too tough on moral principles while he served faithfully under Pope John Paul,II who kept him on as guardian of the Papacy in his powerful office as Prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the Faith. He was often referred to by those feared him as the rottweiler who guarded the Church against heresies.
Suzanne: Surgery for unidentified brain mass. Jesus, guide the doctors so that they are able to remove the entire mass. Pray that the biopsy shows no cancer.
“Loyal Catholics” like Anne Rice spread anti Pope propaganda at her Facebook. I feel sorry for Non Catholics but I feel anger towards catholics who accuses the Pope being the protector of pedophile priests.
Disgusting if it is true.
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