April 15, 2008
Here is how Catholic dissidents are responding to the pope’s visit:
· The National Coalition of American Nuns, a pro-abortion group, says the pope is not welcome
· The Women’s Ordination Conference played a game of make-believe by having women dress up like priests to say Mass
· Dignity, a group which once appointed gay rapist Paul Shanley its chaplain, is staging a protest of the pope’s visit
· New Ways Ministry, a pro-sodomy group, held a press conference on gay sex that no one attended
· Catholics for a Free Choice, an anti-Catholic front group, is hawking condoms and wants no one to leave home without one
· SNAP, a gang of professional victims greased by lawyers who have exploited the church, wants the U.N. to investigate the Vatican
· Voice of the Faithful, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, is lecturing the pope about Church finances
· Rainbow Sash, a gay happy group, says it will throw ashes at the pope instead of confetti
Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded as follows:
“These groups are dying out fast. Staffed by senior citizens who are angry that the Church didn’t turn left, they have almost no members under the age of 90 (okay, maybe 85).
“They will be joined by the American Atheists and the Westboro Baptist Church: the former is protesting what it calls the ‘Vatican/Ratzinger agenda’ (sounds great to me) and the latter is protesting what it calls the ‘Great Whore’ (wasn’t that in the news recently?).
“There was a time when such groups were taken seriously. But that time has long past. Instead, most Catholics will agree with our op-ed page tribute to the pope in today’s New York Times, and not with these unhappy campers. Indeed, they’ll likely be so gay as to break out the confetti.”
We are deeply ashamed.
Pope makes distinction between gays and paedophiles
16th April 2008 10:55
Tony Grew
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church has spoken out about the sexual abuse of children by priests.
Benedict XVI gave a rare insight into his views to reporters accompanying him on his first Papal visit to the United States, which began yesterday.
In his comments the pontiff moved to dismiss the suggestion that he links sexual abuse of children with homosexuality. In 2005 he caused controversy when he appeared to preclude men who may identify as homosexual from training for the priesthood as a response to revelations that thousands of children across the world had been sexually abused by Roman Catholic clergy.
A Vatican report commissioned by the Pope said that the church will ban men who "publicly manifest their homosexuality or show an overwhelming attraction to homosexual culture even if it is only intellectually."
"It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way," Benedict told reporters yesterday. "Their mission was to give healing, to give the love of God to these children.
"We are deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible that this cannot happen in the future.
"I would not speak at this moment about homosexuality, but paedophilia which is another thing. "And we would absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry.
"Who is guilty of pedophilia cannot be a priest.
"We'll do all that is possible to have a strong discernment, because it is more important to have good priests than to have many priests." ..........rest artikel
Pontiff's Visit Seen As Rally for Church Beset by Problems
The Wall Street Journal
By SUZANNE SATALINE
April 14, 2008;
At Catholic University in Washington, undergraduates have been thinking up chants to shout when they greet Pope Benedict XVI on their campus later this week.
"Students are very excited and ready to welcome our pontiff, and express our love and support for him during what many would describe as a difficult time in the church," said sophomore Jonathan Jerome of Charlotte, N.C.
...
Several U.S. Catholics described the visit as a papal pep rally, designed to cheer the team during hard times. Catholic fund-raisers, such as Ed Orzechowski, president of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, say they hope the visit will prod Catholics to give more, though they expect any benefit will be temporary. The Washington nonprofit, which is serving 700 more people a month than in 2006, ran in the red last year by $300,000.
Money has been a divisive subject. Victims of clergy sex abuse, and critics seeking greater accountability from bishops as well as more fiscal transparency, are expected to stage protests.
Since 1993, Catholics have consistently donated about $8.7 billion annually to their parishes.
But the $2 billion legal liability from the sexual-abuse scandal and rising costs -- including those for personnel, maintenance of buildings and caring for elderly clergy -- has forced a fire sale of property and closing of Catholic institutions.
There are 700 fewer parishes than in 1995, with more than half of those closed between 2002 and 2006.
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