Pope Promotes Conservative Austrian Cleric (He Applauded Death/Destruction Of Katrina)

[KittyWampus]

Pope promotes conservative cleric

By David Willey
BBC News, Rome

Pope Benedict has made a controversial appointment, days after revoking the excommunication of a bishop who is a Holocaust denier. He promoted ultra-conservative cleric Fr Gerhard Maria Wagner to assistant bishop of the Austrian city of Linz.

The Vatican came under heavy criticism from Jewish groups this week for the rehabilitation of dissident British-born bishop Richard Williamson.
The bishop apologised for shaming the Church, but not for his views.

Fr Wagner is also notorious for his extreme views - he has accused the popular Harry Potter novels of spreading Satanism, and described Hurricane Katrina as God's punishment for the sinners of New Orleans. He wrote in a parish newsletter that the death and destruction caused by the hurricane in New Orleans was divine retribution for the city's tolerance of homosexuals and permissive sexual attitudes.

The future bishop said he was glad that Katrina destroyed not only nightclubs and brothels in New Orleans, but also five of the city's abortion clinics.
The Catholic Church in Austria has been losing support in recent years after its former head was sacked as a result of a scandal involving gay priests in a teaching college.
Austrian Catholics gave only a lukewarm welcome to the Pope when he visited Vienna in 2007.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7863254.stm

[muntrv]

1. Keep it up, Ratz! You'll create a bigger exodus from the Catholic Church

than the Reformation.

[havocmom]

2. does the nazi pope see himself as some sort of last pope in some prophecy?

Does he want all the goodies before the whole thing crashes?

[KittyWampus]

3. I honestly wonder if he does.

[UTUSN]

4. Ratzo was biding his time, biding his time. Thought he said, "This will be short"!1

Note to any potential flamers: No, I am not ascribing being Gay to somebody who might be "bad". Fwiw, Andrew SULLIVAN is quoted in the first link below, full of innuendoes and insinuations. The 3rd link is a serious analysis of Gorgeous George's potential negative reinforcement of Ratzo in his reactionary policies.



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http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2006/11/18/pope-benedict-issues-formal-vatican-decree-a-smile-is-not-a-sin/

Pope Benedict Issues Formal Vatican Decree: A Smile Is Not a Sin

November 18, 2006 — disembedded

.... Andrew Sullivan published this irreverent, biting criticism of the article (and the Pope) today on his Time Magazine blog, The Daily Dish:

“The NYT runs a very curious article today about Italian humor about the current Pope. None of the jokes cited seem to me to be very risque or even funny. The entire argument of the piece is undermined by lack of any real evidence that this pope is subject to any more ridicule than has historically been the case. Except of course for that photograph (see above, seated with Msgr. Georg Ganswein). It shows the actual source of the jokes circulating in the Vatican and elsewhere about this Prada-preferring, Gucci-wearing, high-drama German intellectual (Pope). The actual jokes - which the NYT won’t print - are about how good looking so many of the men are who surround Benedict, especially his personal assistant, Msgr. Georg Gänswein, shown holding the large phallic microphone in front of Benedict’s face. The Vatican gossip merchants call Georg “Gay-Org.” He is inseparable from Benedict. And he surely is easy on the eyes. There is no evidence that Benedict has ever broken his vows of chastity; but there is no evidence that he is heterosexual either. Hence the gossip; hence the jokes. When you’re a Pope who declares that even closeted, chaste gay men cannot be priests, it’s pushing your luck to clothe yourself in Prada, bedeck your Pope-mobile with luxurious Natuzzi Italian white leather, and surround yourself with assistants who look like they strayed from the pages of “L’Uomo Vogue.”

Butch it up, sister. Or the jokes will only get louder.”


http://www.bestweekever.tv/2006/12/22/crush-of-the-day-monsignor-georg-ganswein/#more-9199

CRUSH OF THE DAY: Monsignor Georg Gänswein

The NY Daily News brings to our attention rampant speculation in Italy that the new Pope Benedict, née Joseph Ratzinger (which we always read as though George Jetson’s boss were angry with him: “Raaaatzinger!”) is gay. The main reason? Namely, because Pope Benedict wears red Prada shoes. The rumor has been spreading since the day he took God’s office, when gay talk show host Fabio Canino kicked off his show “with a shot of pink smoke wafting from a chimney at the Vatican.” Apparently, the Pope’s boyfriend is his private secretary, Monsignor Georg Gänswein, the “handsome, blond, 50-year-old amateur ­pilot, ­tennis player and former ski instructor.”

Well. We had to know more. So we Google Image searched him and ohmahgawwwwww!!!! MONSIGNOR GEORG GANSWEIN IS DROP DEAD GORGE! No, all JK-ing aside, the guy is 2-DIE-4. As the Italians might say “Illay Fatchay ese muy puntamento ecstatico”, which actually doesn’t mean anything strangely enough. We gotta hand it to the Pope — well played, my good man! MERRY CHRISTMAS! If he wasn’t celebate and/or into guys, we’d have him stuff or holiday stocking every day of the week! And we mean that literally, because we love small toys.

But for serious, more shots of our new Numero Uno Monsignor after the jump… (with thanks to ONTD for calling our attention to this pressing matter.)




http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1554309,00.html

Thou shalt not drool

Georg Gänswein is the poster boy of Catholic conservatism. The Italian press compares him to George Clooney and Hugh Grant; his critics describe him as the 'Black Forest Adonis'. But how did he end up as the new Pope's right-hand man? And is he the right person for the job? By Luke Harding and Barbara McMahon

Tuesday August 23, 2005
The Guardian

.... Those who know him praise his efficiency and analytical ability. "He understands complicated issues within about 10 seconds and can give a clear and immediate answer," one Vatican source said. Gänswein is, though, more than just an impressive theologian. He is, like the man he serves, extremely conservative. "I think he is very dangerous," Daniel Deckers, the author of a biography of Germany's leading liberal cardinal, Karl Lehmann, said. "He's part of a small but very powerful group within the Catholic church. He will use his power to push Ratzinger in a certain direction." ....

With Gänswein as private secretary, there seems little hope that Benedict XVI will offer concessions on issues that alienate many from the Catholic church - the use of condoms, gay relationships or pre-marital sex. "You can forget it," one religious affairs writer said bluntly. ....

Gänswein's critics even accuse him of turning the Pope into a fashion victim. This summer, Ratzinger and his secretary went on holiday to the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, as well as to the Italian Alps at Valle D'Aosta. While both men were hiking in the hills, the Pope appeared in public wearing a Nike hat, designer Serengeti sunglasses and a Cartier watch. "This is Gänswein's style. It's his handwriting," one religious affairs writer said. "This is something I don't understand." ....

It is not surprising, then, that the Pope's private secretary is already beginning to inspire dread in liberal Catholic circles. In Germany, the Catholic church is divided more or less between two figures - the liberal-conservative Cardinal Lehmann, the head of the German archbishop's conference, and the ultra-conservative Cardinal Joachim Meisner, the Archbishop of Cologne. Both men were with the Pope last week. But it is no secret as to which Bishop the Vatican favours. "Gänswein is an opponent of Lehmann," one source in the German Catholic church said. "One of Ratzinger's great weaknesses is that his judgment of people isn't always sufficient. He has a small out-reach." ....

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