Pope 'led cover-up of child abuse by priests'

By GottaLaff

This is not what one would call a Popeworthy approach to child abuse:

The Pope played a leading role in a systematic cover-up of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests, according to a shocking documentary to be screened by the BBC tonight.

In 2001, while he was a cardinal, he issued a secret Vatican edict to Catholic bishops all over the world, instructing them to put the Church's interests ahead of child safety.

The document recommended that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the relevant legal authorities, bishops should encourage the victim, witnesses and perpetrator not to talk about it. And, to keep victims quiet, it threatened that if they repeat the allegations they would be excommunicated.

If this is true...

There are more details at the link.

A tweet from Roger Ebert says, "It appears to me as if Pope Benedict will be forced to resign."

What do you think?

CELL VIDEO: Woman jumps barrier, knocks down Pope

By GottaLaff

I posted about this earlier. Here's the video of the woman, who was arrested, caught on cell phone:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And here is the news report:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Spokesman: Woman jumps barriers, knocks down Pope

By GottaLaff

Breaking via e-mail from Yahoo:

VATICAN CITY (AP)

Vatican spokesman says woman jumped barriers and knocked down pope at Christmas Eve Mass.

Oops. I hope she said, "Excuse me." Hopefully, nobody was injured.

UPDATE (h/t: Winthorpe):

The Rev. Ciro Benedettini said the pope quickly got up and was unhurt. Benedict, 82, calmly resumed his walk to the basilica's main altar and began the Mass late Thursday.

Benedettini said the woman who pushed the pope appeared to be mentally unstable and had been arrested by Vatican police.

The rest is here.

Videos- The Obamas at the Vatican

Gawd, I remember having to wear a mantilla when I was a kid. Oy.





Videos via Politico.

Obama to meet the pope while in Italy for G8

Gah, another stupid non issue for the media to get all frothy about. Anyone know if PP2 or this one ever jumped all over Bush for pre-emptive war and the death of hundreds of thousands?

VATICAN CITY— A Vatican spokesman says Pope Benedict XVI and President Barack Obama will hold a much-anticipated meeting at the Vatican on July 10.

(snip)

Such meetings in the afternoon are unusual for the tradition-conscious Vatican. It is a sign of Benedict's interest in meeting the new American president despite his support for abortion rights and stem-cell research, which the Vatican opposes.

The Vatican has been seeking common ground with Obama, although some American Catholic bishops have been hostile to his administration.

Poll-itics: Obama Beats Out the Pope, Tiger Woods and Hannah Montana

By GottaLaff

And this just in, from, of all places, Fox (via CQ):

[T]his is a kind of first.

President Obama trumps the Pope and Tiger Woods when it comes to who voters would rather meet and have their picture taken with, and Hannah Montana runs a distant fourth, according to a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted June 9-10. (Question 54 in the poll).

Obama managed to eke out a 2-to-1 victory over the closest contenders among three other choices provided by Fox, with 42 percent wanting to pose with him, compared to 22 percent who picked Woods, 21 percent who preferred the Pontiff and only 5 percent who felt drawn to Montana.

There was a sharp partisan divide on this question. Republicans favored Woods by 34 percent although the Pope was a close second at 31 percent, so His Holiness managed at least a statistical tie for second among this group since the margin of error was 3 points. Obama got 16 percent and Montana again brought up the rear at 7 percent. Independents chose Obama over Woods by 38 percent to 28 percent, with the Pope at 18 percent and Montana at 4 percent. Sixty-eight percent of Democrats picked Obama as a photo-mate, with the Pope at 16 percent and Montana and Woods in single digits.

Then there's that whole hooked on ciggies thing:

One more Fox you-need-to-know result: Although President Obama says he has quit smoking cigarettes, 37 percent of voters believe he is still sneaking in some smokes while 30 percent believe he has completely quit. (Thirty-three percent wouldn't hazard a guess).

I just want him to stay healthy, so Prez O, if you're smoking? Q.U.I.T!

Vatican: Obama seeks 'common ground' on abortion

So now the Vatican speaks up?

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican said today that President Barack Obama was clearly looking for some common ground with his speech at the University of Notre Dame about abortion.
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The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano said Obama’s speech at the leading Catholic university on Sunday confirmed what he had said at a recent news conference — that signing the so-called Freedom of Choice Act in the U.S. Congress wasn’t his highest legislative priority. The bill would protect a woman’s right to have a child or end a pregnancy.

(snip)

Pope Benedict XVI broke Vatican protocol the day after Obama was elected, sending a personal note of congratulations rather than wait to send an official telegram on inauguration day.

In addition, L’Osservatore Romano gave Obama a positive review after his first 100 days in office, saying in a front-page editorial that even on ethical questions Obama hadn’t confirmed the “radical” new direction he had discussed during the campaign.

Cartoon of the Day

Via.

Pelosi and the Pope

By GottaLaff

Nancy's going on a big Italian trip that should give Republicans yet another opening to go all Republicany on us:

In a move likely to stoke more controversy about whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights are in line with the church, Pope Benedict XVI has granted an audience to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Catholic News Agency confirmed Monday that Pelosi (D-Calif.) is to meet Wednesday with Pope Benedict XVI, who has said supporters of abortion rights should not receive Communion.

Pelosi, a staunch supporter of abortion rights, is on an official trip to Italy. The news agency said there have been contradictory reports about whether the Pope would receive her. The agency said the Vatican's press office confirmed today that the audience would take place Wednesday. The Vatican reportedly made clear that the Pope is meeting with her as a head of state, since she is third in line to the presidency.

I wonder how the Pope feels about this.

Pope likens "saving" gays to saving the rainforest

By GottaLaff

Pope Ben says The Gays have to be saved. Those sinners! Don't The Gays understand that loving someone is wrong!? Wrong I tell you, wrong!

Pope Benedict said on Monday that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behavior was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.

"(The Church) should also protect man from the destruction of himself. A sort of ecology of man is needed," the pontiff said in a holiday address to the Curia, the Vatican's central administration.

He should have been the obvious choice to head the EPA. That must have slipped right by P.E. Obama.

"The tropical forests do deserve our protection. But man, as a creature, does not deserve any less."

The Catholic Church teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are.

Let me get this straight (no pun): You can be gay, but there should be no expression of your love or passion for anyone under any circumstances. That would be wrong. Worse than wrong. That would be, according to Pope B, reprehensible.

So, extending that argument to straighties, I can secretly love my husband, but I should never have married him. In fact, I should never have had kids with him, either. And intimacy? To quote one of our more articulate trolls, "Pfft!"

Wow, good thing I happen to have been born hetero. Oh, it's a choice? I wonder at what age people choose to be gay. Two? Nine? Fourteen? Thirty?

Continuing:

It opposes gay marriage and, in October, a leading Vatican official called homosexuality "a deviation, an irregularity, a wound."

The pope said humanity needed to "listen to the language of creation" to understand the intended roles of man and woman. He compared behavior beyond traditional heterosexual relations as "a destruction of God's work."

Seriously, I oppose his irrational opposition with every fiber of my being. If I comment any further, I will most likely offend, so I'll stop here.

H/t: Kingsburyqc