Pope Benedict XVI

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Pope Hasn't Begun to Apologize for Irish Abuse
 Pope Hasn't Begun to 
 Apologize for Irish Abuse 
SINEAD O'CONNOR

Pope Hasn't Begun to Apologize for Irish Abuse

Now do you understand why she ripped up that picture in 1992?

(Newser) - “Almost 18 years ago, I tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on an episode of Saturday Night Live,” Sinead O’Connor writes. She explains that she wasn't anti-religion but had a deep problem with how the church treated Irish Catholics. Then, “people did not...

Benedict: Fire the Lawyers, Confess to the Cover-Up

Church must stop protecting itself and do the righteous thing

(Newser) - The Vatican hasn’t looked particularly holy in responding to its latest pedophilia scandal. “The church has acted almost entirely on the basis of this world’s imperatives and standards,” writes EJ Dionne Jr. of the Washington Post . It has worried about lawsuits, its image, and how to...

Future Pope Got Memo on Pedophile Priest

Church claimed deputy was responsible in German abuse case

(Newser) - Joseph Ratzinger, who now heads the Roman Catholic church as Pope Benedict XVI, was told in a 1980 memo that a pedophile priest would return to pastoral work in Germany—and, as archbishop of Munich, Ratzinger approved the decision that allowed the Rev. Peter Hullermann not only back into the...

Vatican Denies Cover-Up in US Molestation Case

Says it's a deliberate attempt to smear pope

(Newser) - The Vatican says there was no cover-up in the church's handling of the case of a priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys in the United States and has denounced what it says is a campaign to smear the pope. The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said today that there...

Pope Knew of US Deaf Boys' Sex Abuse, Did Nothing

Priest linked to hundreds of cases never disciplined

(Newser) - Pope Benedict knew of the suspected abuse of hundreds of deaf Wisconsin boys by a renegade priest yet the Vatican office he headed as cardinal halted a process to remove the man from the priesthood. A local archbishop wrote a letter to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1996 pleading that Father...

Screw Bart and Benedict, Time for Nun-Sense
Screw Bart and Benedict, Time for Nun-Sense
Maureen Dowd

Screw Bart and Benedict, Time for Nun-Sense

Sisters want health reform, get only grief from good old boys

(Newser) - When he's penning his latest right-to-life language, Bart Stupak certainly doesn't "call up nuns" for advice—rather, he looks to bishops and anti-abortion groups. But the nuns have broken with the bishops to endorse health reform, and Maureen Dowd thinks she might have "to bang Bart’s head...

Benedict to Ireland's Pedophile Priests: Submit Yourselves

In letter, pontiff apologizes to victims, blasts bishops, opens inquiry

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI rebuked Irish bishops for "grave errors of judgment" in handling clerical sex abuse and ordered a Vatican investigation into the Irish church to wipe out the scourge. Benedict used his harshest words for the abusers themselves: "Conceal nothing," he exhorted them today in a...

Pope Benedict's Enemies Are Twisting Facts
Pope Benedict's Enemies
Are Twisting Facts
OPINION

Pope Benedict's Enemies Are Twisting Facts

Pontiff didn't allow a pedophile to serve as a priest

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI is taking an unfair beating in the world press, writes Damian Thompson. Headlines to the contrary, the then-archbishop of Munich "did not allow a priest he knew to be a pedophile to continue in ministry." He did permit the priest to receive counseling, and that...

German Priest in Sex Abuse Case Suspended

Peter Hullermann convicted in 1986, but continued to serve

(Newser) - When Pope Benedict was Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, he transferred Peter Hullermann to a different diocese in Germany after the priest was accused of sexually molesting young boys. Six years later, in 1986, Hullermann was convicted of sexual abuse but received a suspended sentence and continued in the priesthood—and working...

As Abuse Scandal Nears Pope, Vatican Fires Back

But sex-abuse cases 'growing every day' in Germany

(Newser) - A day after high-level Catholic officials admitted that "serious mistakes" were made in handling a sex abuse case in the German diocese where Pope Benedict XVI was then archbishop, the Vatican came out swinging in defense of the embattled pontiff. Benedict, as the Vatican's cardinal in charge of sex-abuse...

Pope's Exorcist: Satan Is in the Vatican

Priest links sex scandals, cardinals, bishops to devil

(Newser) - Sex scandals in the Catholic Church are continuing proof that the devil has infiltrated the Vatican, the Holy See's chief exorcist has revealed. Satanic manipulations have triggered Vatican power struggles and resulted in "cardinals who do not believe in Jesus, and bishops who are linked to the Demon,"...

Pope's Brother: I Overlooked Choir Abuse

Georg Ratzinger also admits to slapping students in the face

(Newser) - Pope Benedict’s brother today revealed that he used to slap pupils in the face at the Catholic school in Germany whose prestigious choir he led, and that he’d ignored allegations of more serious physical abuses. “Pupils told me about what went on,” Georg Ratzinger said in...

Pope's Brother Embroiled in Abuse Scandal

Georg Ratzinger denies knowledge of choir school abuse

(Newser) - Pope Benedict's older brother has been linked to a sex abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church in Germany. Allegations of abuse at a boarding school whose choir Georg Ratzinger ran for 30 years have surfaced, although he has denied any knowledge of abuse and has agreed to testify in any...

2M to Visit Shroud of Turin
 2M to Visit Shroud of Turin 

2M to Visit Shroud of Turin

Mysterious cloth will be on rare display in Turin

(Newser) - Some 2 million visitors are expected to view the mysterious Shroud of Turin when it goes on display in Turin this spring. The 14-foot-long piece of linen, which is believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ and to miraculously bear his image, has only gone on...

Pope Urges UK Bishops to Fight Gay Equality Bill

Legislation 'violates the natural law,' pontiff contends

(Newser) - Pope Benedict wants English and Welsh bishops to fight proposed human rights legislation with "missionary zeal." The Equality Bill, which is pending in Parliament, is intended to combat discrimination on the basis of sex, race, disability, religion, or sexual orientation, but the pontiff argues that "it actually...

Make Annulments Tougher: Pope
 Make Annulments 
 Tougher: Pope 

Make Annulments Tougher: Pope

Benedict thinks pessimism about lasting marriage is driving trend

(Newser) - Pope Benedict wants Catholic Church tribunals to make marriage annulments more difficult to get. “We run the risk of falling into an anthropological pessimism which, in the light of today's cultural situation, considers it almost impossible to marry,” he said today. Marriage is stronger than people think, he...

Pope to Priests: Get Blogging!

Benedict says the church must go digital to reach young Catholics

(Newser) - What Would Jesus Do? Why, blog, of course. Pope Benedict today urged Catholic priests to take advantage of the "rich menu of options" offered by modern technology to reach young people. "Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources—images,...

Pope Defends Nazi-Era Vatican
 Pope Defends Nazi-Era Vatican 

Pope Defends Nazi-Era Vatican

Church helped Jews in 'hidden ways'

(Newser) - Pope Benedict yesterday defended the Vatican against criticism that it did little to challenge the Nazis during World War II, saying that the Catholic church helped Jews in "hidden" ways. "Unfortunately, many remained indifferent" to the suffering of the Jews, said the German pontiff. But the Vatican "...

Pope Meets, Forgives Female Assailant

Benedict offers 'best wishes' for Susanna Maiolo's health

(Newser) - The pope met today with Susanna Maiolo, the mentally distressed woman who tackled him to the ground on Christmas Eve. The Vatican says Maiolo “apologized for what happened” during a “brief private meeting” in which Benedict showed “her his forgiveness.” He also “expressed his interest...

Bizarre Collection Headed to Bush Library

From cowboy hats to swords to classified files

(Newser) - George W. Bush’s $300 million presidential library will be filled with documents, including many classified files. In all, it’ll boast roughly 68 million pages of documents, 175 million e-mails, 3,845,912 photos, and more videos than any previous president's library. But it’ll also have a wide...

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