By John Cooney Religion Correspondent
Tuesday December 21 2010
VICTIMS of clerical sex abuse have reacted furiously to Pope Benedict’s claim yesterday that paedophilia wasn’t considered an ‘absolute evil’ as recently as the 1970s.
In his traditional Christmas address yesterday to cardinals and officials working in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI also claimed that child pornography was increasingly considered “normal” by society.
“In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorised as something fully in conformity with man and even with children,” the Pope said. “It was maintained — even within the realm of Catholic theology — that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a ‘better than’ and a ‘worse than’. Nothing is good or bad in itself.”
The Pope said abuse revelations in 2010 reached “an unimaginable dimension” which required the Catholic Church to accept the “humiliation” as a call for renewal.
Asking how sexual abuse exploded within the Church, the German Pontiff called on senior clerics “to repair as much as possible the injustices that occurred” and to help victims heal their hurts through a better presentation of the Christian message.
“We cannot remain silent about the context of these times in which these events have come to light,” he said, citing the growth of child pornography “that seems in some way to be considered more and more normal by society,” he said.
Outraged
But outraged Dublin victim Andrew Madden accused the Pope of not knowing that child pornography was actually the viewing of images of children being sexually abused, and should be named as such.
He said: “That is not normal. I don’t know what company the Pope has been keeping for the past 50 years.”
Pope Benedict also said sexual tourism in the third world was “threatening an entire generation”. Angry abuse victims in America last night said that while some church officials have blamed the liberalism of the 1960s for the church’s sex abuse scandals and cover-up catastrophes, Pope Benedict had come up with a new theory of blaming the 1970s. “Catholics should be embarrassed to hear their Pope talk again and again about abuse while doing little or nothing to stop it and to mischaracterise this heinous crisis,” said Barbara Blaine, the head of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
“It is fundamentally disturbing to watch a brilliant man so conveniently misdiagnose a horrific scandal,” she added.
“The Pope insists on talking about a vague ‘broader context’ he can’t control, while ignoring the clear ‘broader context’ he can influence — the long-standing and unhealthy culture of a rigid, secretive, all-male church hierarchy fixated on self-preservation at all costs. This is the ‘context’ that matters.”
The latest controversy comes as the German magazine ‘Der Spiegel’
continues to investigate the Pope’s role in allowing a paedophile priest to work with children in the 1980s when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Archbishop of Munich.
Anger
It also come only days after Irish abuse victims vented their anger and dismay at the Murphy Commission’s disclosure that the Vatican initially rejected a verdict by a Dublin church tribunal to defrock the now jailed Fr Tony Walsh in 1993.
The Vatican proposed a 10-year confinement for Walsh in a monastery, even though he had been diagnosed by psychiatrists as a serial abuser.
It was only when Walsh was imprisoned shortly afterwards that Cardinal Desmond Connell begged the late Pope John Paul II to remove Walsh from the priesthood which was belatedly facilitated by Cardinal Ratzinger, by now the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dealing with abuse cases.
In his address, Pope Benedict specifically insisted that the church needed to train prospective priests better so that abusers were not ordained, and he committed the church to help heal victims of paedophile priests.
– John Cooney Religion Correspondent
21/12/2010
“In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorised as something fully in conformity with man and even with children,” the Pope said.
Theorists like Kinsey, whose “research” was based on the rape and abuse of real children by known paedophiles.
The men of god were supposed to be infallible? so why were they using “research” from criminals to legalise the crimes of child rape and abuse?
Paedophilia may have been in conformity with people like the men of god, but to state that the rest of society condoned these criminal acts is absolute nonsense.
incredible site, great site ever
the church has been a permanent problem in all different ways but giving out ideas like his will only encourage the other pedophiles to continue. had he been a civil as a leader he would be called on to account for his ideas. he should be at least thrown out to look after himself. Its about time.
This mans press release (The Popes)is not worthy of READING.
LET US TURN IT AROUND IN OUR FAVOUR.
ANYONE WITH AN OUNCE OF COMMON SENSE WILL NOW JUDGE THIS ARTICLE FROM THE VATICAN AND REALISE THAT THEY ARE CERTAINLY NOT ON THIS PLANET.
THEY ARE SO FULL OF THEIR OWN IMPORTANCE THAT THEY HAVE TOTALLY LOST THE PLOT.
Kathleen O’Malley.”Childhood Interrupted”
JUST READ TODAY THAT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN GERMANY HAVE LOST NEARLY 18 THOUSAND MEMBER’S AS A RESULT OF THE CHILD ABUSE SCANDEL’S THERE.
THAT FOR ME IS A BREADTH OF FRESH AIR, AND I WOULD HOPE IT IS A GOOD SIGN THAT GERMANY HAVE TAKEN THE RIGHT STEP’S TO ENCOURAGE OTHER COUNTRY’S TO SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE, AND FOLLOW SUIT!
IT IS VERY EVIDENT TO ME, MORE THESE DAY’S, THAT THE WORLD OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE VATICAN, THE POPE, AND HIS MAFIA GANG OF CHILD ABUSER’S ,WITH THEIR MAN MADE LAW’S, THEIR CANON LAW’S ETC, WERE, AND STILL ARE , OUR HELL ON EARTH!
JIMMY
my flabber is absolutely gasted. there must be an error in the popes statement, surely, no sane person could justify child abuse. I fail to believe such a statement from the vatican even though I left the church after I was released from one of their institutions of correction(Glin) in 1951. I am a married to a prody,am a master mason, what else could I do to express my love of the Catholic Church ?. In the meantime, TO ALL, A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY TO YOU ALL.
SEANIE.
Anyone reading the utterances of the Pope is bound to be sick. He might as well come out and say “The abuse, sexual and otherwise of children is perfectly alright” This guy is just not fit for the position he holds. Time he took himself off to something/somewhere like hell if there is such a place. I just get more and more sick by what he has to say. He deserves no respect whatever. Paddy.
Thank Jimmy. A very Happy Christmas to you and a great New Year. Paddy.
this is a great site, l love it, it is so inspiring, thank u
“Andrew Madden accused the Pope of not knowing that child pornography was actually the viewing of images of children being sexually abused, and should be named as such.”
Of course the pope knows that child pornography involves the use of children being abused in the making of porn movies. He simply does not see children as human beings equal to himself. He and his ilk have deluded themselves to believe that they are in a superior class of their own- men of “god” who have the god given right to use and abuse innocent children.In the sacred texts women and children are mere cattle.
I still get the feeling that the truth about the Roman Church may be even more perverse than we already know. Herr Ratzinger may even be a descendant of Martin Luther hell bent on completing his work. If he is I wish him all the luck in the world. If the whole structure of the Catholic Church Limited collapsed this minute it wouldn’t be a moment too soon. For all it’s victims it would be 1700 years too late. To repair the damage it’s done would take another 1700 years.
If thats what he sees as normal no wonder he is up to his eyes in such scandelous hiding lying and blaming devels who exist in his own mind.
To make the claim that child pornography is considered normal by society (the general public) is mad, that is, CRIMINALLY INSANE, to be precise, Paddy.
Of course, any adult who does not know that Pope Ratzinger IS the personification of evil is themselves non compos mentis, i.e., totally devoid of their critical faculties.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS PADDY, KEEP WARM AND SAFE, AND MOST OF ALL, KEEP STRONG.
JIMMY
He said: “That is not normal. I don’t know what company the Pope has been keeping for the past 50 years.”
I think I might know now…
MM
LET THE CHURCH KEEP ALL THEIR PROPERTY’S, AND TURN THEM INTO MONASTERY’S, THEY HAVE AMONG THEIR RANK’S ENOUGH PAEDOPHILE’S TO FILL THEM.
AND WHILE WE ARE AT IT, LET’S CONTRIBUTE TO SENDING THE POPE AND HIS MAFIA COMRADE’S ON A SEA CRUISE, TO THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE!
IF THERE IS SUCH A PERSON AS GOD, I DOUBT VERY MUCH HE WOULD BE ANY PART OF THE EVIL- MAN- MADE RELIGION, CALLED THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH!
JIMMY
I couldn’t agree with you more Paddy. I think he is very far removed from reality. Why is he trying to ‘normalise’ child pornography? Jesus Christ, I’m sickened – yet again!
To say that this guy, the Pope, is mad would be to lessen his crimes and his silly utterances. What hope is there for any of us while Benny and his ilk run the show. Be gone the lot of ye, I say.