04/19/2005
Does Anybody Smell a Rat?
No refreshing change from the Vatican. That puff of white chimney smoke was made of the same stale air the Catholic church has been spewing for the last three decades. As Sinead would say, "Fight the real enemy." Ratzinger authored many of the anti-gay statements released by the Vatican under John Paul II.
**Supports proactive stand to halt governments from legalizing same sex marriage.
**Wants laws that allow gays to adopt children repealed.
**Opposes contraception and condoms to combat AIDS/HIV.
**Wants women to have a limited role in the church.
BBC: "The Vatican has launched a global campaign against gay marriage in an attempt to reverse the spread of legislation in Europe and the Americas that permits it. In a strongly-worded 12-page document signed by the Pope's chief theological adviser, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Church brands homosexual unions as immoral, unnatural and harmful."
Related
Ratzinger Elected Pope [reuters]
Papal Hopeful is a Former Hitler Youth [times online]
Will Next Pope Be More Gay-Friendly? [365gay]
Gay Catholics Don't Expect Vatican Change [abc]
He's Gone [tr]
Posted 1:39 PM EST by Andy Towle in Religion | Permalink
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from REUTERS
John Wilkins, former editor of The Tablet in London, said Ratzinger could be different as Pope from his previous work.
"You never quite know how a pope is going to develop," he said. "You can't just draw a straight line from Cardinal Ratzinger as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Cardinal Ratzinger as pope."
His choice of name seemed intriguing because the last Pope Benedict, who reigned from 1914 to 1922, subtly repudiated the strict Vatican orthodoxy practiced under his predecessor Pius X, said former Vatican diplomat John-Peter Pham.
Benedict XV also tried in vain to end World War I, opened the Vatican to international diplomacy and sent so much wartime aid to Turkey that Istanbul erected a statue to him, he said.
Posted by: Reuters | Apr 19, 2005 1:45:52 PM
I wasn't surprised. Were you surprised?
I wasn't surprised.
Posted by: Rob | Apr 19, 2005 2:12:11 PM
Well we always knew The Church was full of Nazis I guess they just stopped trying to hide it.
Posted by: Digger | Apr 19, 2005 2:16:54 PM
Another old white man who thinks that the scripture of man is the word of "god."
I have my suspicions about Kabbalah and Scientology but anything has to be better than these fucking morons.
Posted by: Jason | Apr 19, 2005 2:17:01 PM
Holy Smoke!
Posted by: david | Apr 19, 2005 2:47:14 PM
Damn David, you beat me to it!
OK, does anyone see striking similarities between Ratzinger and Senetor Palpatine from Star Wars? It's not just a resemblance...
It's horrific when the one thing that may have kept the others in the conservative conclave from voting for him is that he is just a bit TOO CONSERVATIVE.
Posted by: M@ | Apr 19, 2005 2:58:54 PM
Here's a link to the new pope's 1986 Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons.
Posted by: Frank | Apr 19, 2005 5:59:38 PM
I'm glad he's the new pope.
The more outdated and archacic the doctrine, the more people will move away from the church.
No condoms to fight AIDS!!
No condoms for birth control!!
Gays are evil!! Etc..
Let's hear him say it over and over. The absurdity will eventually sink in...
Posted by: Greg | Apr 19, 2005 6:30:36 PM
Well SOMEBODY has to be against gays, bc, abortion and all the other shit in the world. Do you know how many families are broken, how many lives are crappy because of those things? Obviously if you want a global church to say what you are doing is right, then you must not be sure it really is right. leave the fuckin catholics alone!
Posted by: Marie | Apr 19, 2005 8:22:22 PM
Oh, silly me, did I post that absurd comment? I must be a really stupid fuck.
Completely ignore me in the future...
Posted by: MARIE | Apr 19, 2005 9:41:30 PM
::Points up.:: Off with her head! Both of 'em!
Posted by: Rob | Apr 19, 2005 10:09:58 PM
Tell you what, "Marie," if the "fuckin Catholics," as you call them, leave me the fuck alone, I'll be more than glad to leave them alone.
Posted by: Frank | Apr 19, 2005 11:05:14 PM
Marie, speak for yourself - you dont speak for all Catholics. I have a huge and healthy Cathlolic family that differs from your view. Along with many other christian friends.
Eat cake.
Posted by: Rafael | Apr 19, 2005 11:53:51 PM
They elected the one I dearly hoped they would stay away from. And now, "my" whole country is totally excited because the Pope is German. Hell, I'm German, and I'm Catholic (at least theoretically), but I'm not looking forward to this at all.
He may be really intelligent (speaking 10 languages does impress me), but his views are still a bit more than just questionable, to say the least. And his physical appearance is just appaling.
Posted by: Vanessa | Apr 20, 2005 11:16:22 AM
Marie, How are families broken up by using birth control? How does my being gay break up any family? It certainly didn't break up my own; they're totally supportive of me and I of them. What I think the people who posted before you were trying to say is that once again the leader of a huge congregation is going to tell people in Africa, for instance, that using condoms is evil -- this despite the fact that millions are dying. Yet, although condoms are evil, being too willing to sweep the Church's child abuse problem under the rug is somehow okay.
Posted by: jason | Apr 20, 2005 2:58:17 PM
So let me get this straight, Marie...
Condoms, birth control, masturbation and man-on-man monogamy = evil pish posh that destroys families
Priests molesting young boys = ehh, not so bad
That about right?
Posted by: Ani | Apr 22, 2005 9:02:00 AM
I dont think its Ratzinger you are all against, I think it's just the catholic church, am i right? so any pope is gonna be against it, because its what the church teaches. you shouldnt be suprised if a new pope isnt different from all the others. its just the way they work. they are never gonna approve. o well
Posted by: Joe | Apr 22, 2005 6:22:39 PM
Remember, religious belief shares the same etymological root as make-believe.
Posted by: John | Apr 22, 2005 9:22:54 PM
Hey Fellas,
The Catholic church is not going to change - and it should not. It should stay consistant with the teachings of Jesus Christ, He is the one who started the Catholic church. Jesus did not condone homosexual behavior then and the church should NOT accept it now! We will all answer to our deeds on judgement day. Think about that.
-Bono
Posted by: Bono | Apr 24, 2005 1:19:16 PM
help to our problem in philippines.. Allow this country to marry same sex and explain all parents to aware how gay feeling from suffer and hide something secret.. They need to freedom to marry same sex..
Posted by: Lester MIravalles | Jun 16, 2005 3:51:30 AM
No, the Catholic church is not going to change, it is just going to become increasingly irrelevant. Also, where in the New Testament is there an account of Jesus saying anything about homosexuality?
Posted by: diogenes | Nov 1, 2005 5:24:08 PM