Vatican lashes out against sex abuse coverage

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — Cardinals rushed to Pope Benedict XVI's defense on Holy Thursday amid accusations he played a role in covering up sex abuse scandals, as an increasingly angry Vatican made a stinging attack on the U.S. media for its coverage.

The relationship between the church and the media has become increasingly bitter as the scandal buffeting the 1 billion-member church has touched the pontiff himself. On Wednesday, the church singled out the New York Times for criticism in an unusually harsh attack.

Western news organizations, including The Associated Press, have reported extensively on the burgeoning scandal, and new revelations have emerged on an almost daily basis.

Venice's Cardinal Angelo Scola expressed solidarity with Benedict in his Holy Thursday homily in the lagoon city, describing him as a victim of "deceitful accusations." He praised the pope as seeking to remove all "dirt" from the priesthood.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQWrzPjAEtxgfa_tARqu5413A4PAD9EQC6382

[closeupready]

1. Sure, because it's having an impact on $$$$$. It's all about the $$$$$.

n/t

[HowHasItComeToThis]

25. BIRDS FLOCK TOGETHER

[JuniperLea]

2. Well, that's not going to bode well for the Vatican...

Putting the kibosh on news surrounding hideous behaviors is just another form of cover-up.

Dumbasses need to come clean, clean house, and promise to do better. It's PR 101... and they are doing it all wrong.

[Walk away]

3. I guess they won't be letting the NYT recieve "Holy" Communion...nt

[joeybee12]

4. How can Benedict "remove all dirt" when he's the biggest mound of it? n/t

[CreekDog]

5. I guess he is the victim now

charming. :eyes:

[TankLV]

40. and there are some here who support this (former) NAZI!!!

out of ALL the possible candidates, they had to pick THIS asshole?!!!

[av8rdave]

6. Corporations hate bad publicity

If they form themselves into the right kind of entity, maybe they can buy themselves some elections here, thanks to the SCOTUS.

Then we can all live lives of no birth control, no choice and unsafe children. Wouldn't that be great?

:sarcasm:

[DURHAM D]

21. Don't forget - 2/3s of the SC members are Roman Catholic. nt

[marylanddem]

7. Every damn one of those child abusers should be in jail.

[Poll_Blind]

8. In short: Pope, Catholic Church wallow in the worst form of shit, command everyone to "Look away!"

Good luck with that.

PB

[jannyk]

9. Lashes out at the 'Coverage'!! What about lashing out at the Abuse!!! nt

[bergie321]

17. +1000

My thoughts exactly

[cyr330]

10. Lashing Out?

Those assholes have a lot of goddamned nerve after FUCKING little kids for fun. . . And Benedict certainly wasn't interested in protecting the kids, as he was too fucking busy worrying about punishing wayward priests who didn't toe the Vatican line regarding policy. Of course the pedophiles weren't punished, as they should have been. The Vatican has NOTHING to complain about as far as media coverage is concerned. They deserve much worse than they're receiving at present. I hope to hell it bankrupts them.

[One_Life_To_Give]

11. Picturing Cardinal Law rushing to defend the Pope

It's like Himmler coming to defend Hitler.

[BrklynLiberal]

12. DON'T TELL THE WORLD THAT THE EMPEROR IS NAKED!!!!!

[KansDem]

13. The Head Ped needs to be doing some time...

And any other "church official" who knew about this pedophilia and did nothing.

They should do time and then be required to register as "sex offenders."

[IndianaGreen]

14. Like all rightwing organizations in the US, the Vatican attacks the messenger

in order to avoid dealing with the message.

I read on the BBC today that there are documents dating back to Pope Paul VI that showed the Vatican stonewalling investigations of child abuse.

[frebrd]

15. They don't think they should be subject to such scrutiny.......

TOUGH SHIT, GUYS!!!

:nopity:

[harry_pothead]

16. Thank god I'm an atheist!

[frebrd]

18. Me too!

:)

[No Elephants]

32. LOL

I'm not an atheist, but I like a funny post, no matter what.

[Toasterlad]

19. LEAVE RATZI ALONE!!!!!11!!!!1!!

[billymayshere]

20. I was never ashamed until today

I am now agnostic but for half of my life I was a Catholic and a true believer. I've never felt ashamed of being a Catholic before because of the community I was a part of and I saw first hand the good things the church does. I feel sick for ever associating myself with this organization.The way the Vatican is handling this scandal is sick and obnoxiously evil. Pay up motherfuckers and that little nazi youth piece of human waste pope needs to go too!

[pattmarty]

22. I hate ALL religions, let me state that up front. I was bought up Catholic...............

..............from my beginning to 1st year HS. What they ought to do (they won't) is first of all come clean and say Jesus would have blah, blah, blah. After that change the really fucked up "rule" that priests can't marry. Then they may have a "comeback". I personally don't give a shit if anyone wants to believe in a "higher being", but organized religion is a huge fucking scam and at the very least should have the shit taxed out of them, at worst banned as perverted.

[pundaint]

23. Yesterday on NPR I heard a member of the Catholic board responsible for fixing

the problem defending the redeployment of a pedophile whose conviction was overturned on a technicality. Her reasoning was that any individual so acquitted in America has rights.

When a church uses secular rules to defend patently immoral behavior they obviously have no connection with anything on a higher plane. The words of almost all the Prophets seem wise and good, but I don't see a single organized religion that has not been corrupted within a few generations of the prophet's passing.

If there indeed was a Creator, and intellect is one of Its gifts, organized religion is man's way of saying "no thank you."

[valerief]

24. Shame they didn't lash out again the sex abuse instead. nt

[caseymoz]

26. Have they denied the uninterest and cover-up allegations about the Pope?

In the specific, documented cases that have come out? Where's the deceit? Meanwhile, they're still trying to get away with quietly reassigning priests.

[Jefferson23]

27. The guy expresses solidarity with the Pope...ugh. Too bad there are no boycotts or something

from the church members...why don't they care about the kids?

[Botany]

28. To the Catholic Church

Your priests wear dresses and screw little boys in the butt. You have known
about this problem for years. In the U.S. from the 1960s to the 1980s you used to give
$2,000 and a year of paid therapy to anybody who came forward and told of
abuse by a priest. You also had the victim sign a document that was a well
crafted legal document that protected the church too and it stopped cold any further
legal redress by the victims.

[Q3JR4]

29. Stupid media reporting on the abuse of boys

by Catholic priests. If nobody knew about it those poor priests could continue to have their cake and eat it too. This is what happens when you allow a free media an open hand to report the news as it actually happens. Those poor priests just want to enjoy everything they can get out of a relationship with a young boy while at the same time speak out against the atrocity that is the love between two men who are of sound mind and body to make those decisions for themselves.

You non-priest type folk just don't get it.

Q3JR4

[time_has_come]

30. Didn't he sign a letter before becomming Pope telling bishops not to report abuse to the police???

I seem to remember seeing it at the time. What do they expect?

[panzerfaust]

31. Yes, the problem is the reporting, not the actions

Divine Hypocrisy

[sendero]

33. The media is reporting this????

The church must not be buying enough advertising.

[Stuart G]

34. I think that the church cannnot buy it's way out of it. this time..

[E-Z-B]

35. Yes, yes! It's the media's fault, dammit!

[Javaman]

36. got to love the smell of panic.

ratzo is doing everything he can, it appears, to take the church even further into the swamp.

[Q3JR4]

38. What this guy said...

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/richard_dawkins/2010/03/ratzinger_is_the_perfect_pope.html

Depending on where you stand that could be a good or a bad thing....

Q3JR4

[and-justice-for-all]

37. "deceitful accusations." !?

They are insanely fucking delusional!!

[TankLV]

39. gee - how DARE we complain about the ABUSE!!!

think about the fucking PEDOPHILES!!! - THEY HAVE RIGHTS, TOO!!!

I suspect we have a new group of TEABAGGERS here!!!

[Odin2005]

41. The RCC is one of the most EVIL organization in the world