Thursday, April 8, 2010

The Pope and The Catholic Church...

I thought I was going to fall down and faint when I heard about the Pope's personal preacher comparing the criticism of the Catholic Church to the violence suffered by the Jews in the Holocaust. Now I realize he was quoting a letter from a Jewish friend; but none the less, it was irresponsible, inconsiderate and offensive; especially on Good Friday
The Catholic Church aided Nazi's in obtaining passports to escape Germany (as well as trial, imprisonment and perhaps execution) after the Holocaust at the end ( and even during) World War II.  The Catholic Church "hid" pedophile priests as they relocated them from parish to parish throughout the U.S. and even the world.
The plight suffered by the Jews in the Holocaust, as well as the 5 million plus additional victims of the Holocaust whether they be handicapped, old, deformed, gypsies, political prisoners, non Aryans, Jehovah's witnesses, gays, etc. to name a few, simply cannot be compared with a world pointing their finger at a religious institution that has been hiding pedophiles and refusing to listen to the cries of the hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide for decades.
Are priests so removed from real life by not being married and having children that they simply cannot comprehend the harm done to a child when they are sexually molested? Don't they realize the children have been robbed of their innocence? Their purity? Their virginity? This boggles my mind, because these priests are part of a religion that not only holds life so dear they believe a condom interferes with its creation; this is a religion, a church which prohibits pre marital sex, fornication.  So how can fornication forced upon a child by an adult, a priest none the less be ignored!?!?!!  This forced fornication by the way is rape.  These children were powerless. They looked up to these men as representatives of God- for some, the closest thing to God on earth. And doesn't the Pope state he is God's representative on earth? Would God turn his back on children who cry out for justice day and night?!? 
There are some that say the Pope must address these issues. There are some that say the Pope must answer to why he ignored more than one letter, when he was John Ratzenberg, regarding a priest who allegedly molested more than 200 deaf boys in Wisconsin.  The Pope must address why priests who are accused of such crimes are simply forgiven and moved and are not given up to law enforcement authorities.  And where is the outrage among Catholics!?!! There are some who say this Pope must step down. Some who believe this Pope's Anti-Semitism is clear; from his being taught as a member of the Hitler youth, to the honoring of a man who denies the Holocaust and now this, this comparison with the Holocaust.
What violent act(s) have been brought upon the church or this pope!?! What violent act/acts have been brought upon the Priests who are pedophiles for that matter!?!!  The only violence is upon the victims, the children, who in being sexually abused, were physically, mentally and emotionally abused. These priests robbed them of their souls, their hopes, and often, their faith in God. They brought in confusion about their sexuality; their ability to be intimate, to form strong emotional bonds, to have children of their own.  In my mind, what these priests have done is worse than murder.  And that is what the Holocaust was. A systematic murder, a mass ethnic cleansing of Europe by Adolf Hitler and his willing participants, his willing "Catholic" Nazi's. 
The church has apologized for not doing enough during the Holocaust- but it never apologized for remaining silent and turning its head. It never apologized for helping aid in Anti-Semitism by teaching for centuries that the Jews murdered Jesus. (Who by the way wouldn't be anyone's savior had he not been crucified)  The church hasn't apologized to the victims or their families for the betrayal or for the abuse, and now today, rather than apologize for their remarks, for their offensive comparison of the Catholic Church's' being criticized to the violence against the Jews in the Holocaust, during the week of Passover!
I say the Pope needs to speak to these issues or step down. I say the Catholics throughout the world need to cry out to their religious leaders to right this wrong.  I say they must do this, or you all must stop putting money in their baskets. And speaking of money- the next time you're at the Vatican, ask them to melt some of that gold to pay the victim's for all the church has put them through, or at least by the people of Mexico and Calcutta condoms.
 
Leslie Marshall
The Leslie Marshall Show
"The Only True Democracy In Talk Radio - Of, For and By The People."

2 comments:

  1. Well written Leslie & too the point. I'm surprised the only one to comment so far is m, @Wyattbearp, the a rightie (on Twitter) who agrees w/ you.

    Will be posting this on Twitter & will have to see if I get any flack from conservatives.

    ReplyDelete
  2. An absolutely 100% awesome, true and beautifully written post.

    ReplyDelete

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