Genocide was and is a way of life in the catholic church. A little bit of church history will explain how priests and nuns, enabled and protected by their superiors can continue to torture and kill children and defenseless adults: They choose to perpetuate such atrocities while hiding behind God. No one as yet has stopped them.
Where did the basic teaching of Christ – non violence, get perverted to become the church’s decree that any violence is acceptable and unpunishable if done to preserve and further the church’s agenda?
Alex Wilhelm writing for the Huffington Post said (May 5, 2010) that in the last 50 years some 30,000 people in 25 countries reported abuse committed by the catholic church. Only one-third of victims ever report rape; it is very under-reported. Wilhelm says “this statistic is nothing less than horrifying.” But how much more goes unreported when it is done to mentally ill or retarded children, those in third world countries and orphans -- many of them too young or too damaged to talk -- or those who are too devastated to report abuse or are dead. Says Wilhelm, “Tragically, the odds are quite high that there are children in the world this very day who will be sexually abused by their priest.”
Child rape and abuse is not a new problem in the church. There was NEVER a time when the church prevented or stopped these atrocious crimes. Says Wilhelm, “The church has hung itself with its own paper trail and history.” Commenting on the repeated scandals in the media, Wilhelm says, “Each successive blow has added to a growing global discontent against a Church that claims to know God yet in these affairs seems to lack even basic human decency.”
Church documents from 70 A.D. talked about banning the murder and rape of children. Nothing was done to stop these crimes. The church excluded and condemned all non-Christians: “unbelievers deserve not only to be separated from the church but also…to be exterminated from the world by death: Thomas Aquinas 1271 Summa Theologica.
In 309, the church wrote "Those who sexually abuse boys may not commune, even when death approaches." No sacraments for rapist priests but the crime was not reported to civil legal authorities, same as today. In 1049, Saint Peter Damian wrote that the clergy was “a veritable cesspool and dedicated the "Book of Gomorrah," to the pope. He condemned sodomy against both children and young priests and said, “True reform in the Church begins at the top - with a strong and independent papacy”. Same story, no results.
In 1231, the church began “inquisitions” or “witch hunts” designed originally to question and kill Jewish and Muslim converts to Christianity suspected of still practicing their religions. Pope gregory IX assigned inquisitions to the dominican order of nuns and priests who condemned, tortured or murdered dissenters. In 1252, pope innocent IV authorized the dominicans' use of torture and they never stopped using it. They used it on me.
In 1578 the inquisitors’ handbook said that punishment wasn’t for the person being punished – it was for the public so others “may become terrified and weaned away from the evils they would commit.” They were the original terrorists and they haven’t changed. Death sentences were often given to the rich and all their wealth confiscated by the church. Cardinal Josef Ratzinger ran the Inquisition (name changed to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) before he became Pope Benedict XVI.
What history next tells us is that the model for Nazi hierarchy and political structure was actually the catholic church:
Adolph Hitler said, “There has never been anything more grandiose on the earth than the hierarchical organization of the Catholic Church. I transferred much of this organization into my own party.” Hitler learned how to commit genocide from the catholic church. In 1933 Hitler declared:
“I have been attacked because of my handling of the Jewish question. The Catholic Church considered the Jews pestilent for fifteen hundred years, put them in ghettos, etc., because it recognized the Jews for what they were….I do not set race over religion, but I recognize the representatives of this race as pestilent for the state and for the Church, and perhaps I am thereby doing Christianity a great service by pushing them out of schools and public functions.” “Pushing them out” became wholesale killing.
Hitler got more ideas to justify killing Jews from Martin Luther, a catholic German priest who condemned Jews in his book, On the Jews and Their Lies (1543). Luther believed in the murder of Jews who refused to convert to Christianity, writing that "we are at fault in not slaying them."
In 1933, the holy see and Hitler signed a concordat (agreement) giving the church rights in return for safety. Church members and bishops joined the Nazi Party. German bishops would not speak out against Nazis even when they destroyed synagogues and imprisoned and murdered Jews in 1938. Hitler supported church schools and made catholic religious education available in public schools. So abusive and rapist nuns and clergy got free access to the German children in the schools. Hitler’s support of the schools made him look good while he was busy planning and carrying out his recipe for serial genocide.
Because the church and Hitler were so cozy, everyone trusted Hitler, allowing him to get more powerful and kill 11 million people including Jews and non-Jews in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Holland, France and Germany. Also included were gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, priests, pastors, and the disabled.
The Nazi past finally caught up with them:
In 1945, Robert Jackson, Chief of Counsel for the United States led the Nuremberg Nazi trials in Germany. He said, “The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated. The common sense of mankind demands that law shall not stop with the punishment of petty crimes by little people. It must also reach men who possess themselves of great power and make deliberate and concerted use of it to set in motion evils which leave no home in the world untouched.”
We can substitute “the roman catholic church, or the Vatican, or the pope” for the Nazis in Jackson’s statements because the planned, tolerated and systematic rape, abuse and murder of children is genocide on the scale of Nazi holocausts. There are still Nazis today and they are roman catholic priests.
Nicole Winfield (Huffington Post 9/16/11) reported on the vatican’s relationship with a group of catholics, including a bishop who denies that the Holocaust ever happened. The group, the Swiss-based society of st. pius X (SSPX) was formed in 1969, when it wanted to continue to believe and preach that Christ's death was the fault of all Jews.
Winfield reports that German-born pope benedict had tried for two decades to bring the pro-Nazi group back under the vatican umbrella. There was outrage in 2009 when Benedict lifted the excommunication of Richard Williamson, the SSPX bishop who denied that Nazi gas chambers were used for mass killing. Williamson has called Jewish people “enemies of the Church.” SSPX has six seminaries, three universities and 70 schools worldwide. It has three other bishops, more than 550 priests and 200 priests in training and more than a half million members.
Pope benedict also expanded the use of the tridentine mass – favored by Williamson. This mass includes a prayer that asks God to lift the veil so they [Jews] may be delivered from their darkness. The real darkness is in the black heart of this neo-Nazi society and popes who support it. SSPX allows convicted Nazi war criminals to be buried in their church cemeteries. In the 1990s the group had harbored Nazi collaborator and war criminal Paul Touvier. Pope Francis is giving indications that he might welcome SSPX back by supporting a Pontifical Commission called Ecclesia Dei, which has tried to lead the SSPX flock back into the fold. As recently as January, Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, one of Rome’s top dogs, wrote a letter to SSPX priests, pleading for “reconciliation and healing.”
Can an organization with a history of planned torture and murder of innocent people, close ties to Nazis and centuries of child rape and murder be trusted today with the lives of our children? I don’t think so. I pray that the United Nations Committee Against Torture doesn’t think so either when they return their recommendations later this week.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Saturday, May 3, 2014
UN Committee Against Torture questions Vatican officials: tweet #VaticanAccountability – You too Pope Francis!
Vatican officials (representing Pope Francis) are being investigated again by the United Nations Committee Against Torture this Monday and Tuesday May 5 and 6. Live on the internet will be leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) from different countries and their attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).
The hearings will be streamed live here: URL: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/ From 10 am-12 pm CET (4 am-6 am EST) on Monday, May 5th, the Committee will question the Vatican on its compliance with the Convention. From 3 pm-6 pm CET (9 am-12 pm EST) on Tuesday, May 6th, the Vatican will respond to the Committee’s questions. Both broadcasts will be in English. Afterwards SNAP will report:
Tune in to our report-back on Tuesday, May 6, at 8:30 pm CET (2:30 pm EST): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au3ZwOOwGvs on YouTube. You can follow the global conversation about this historic hearing on Twitter using the hashtag #VaticanAccountability and ask questions before or during the report-back by tweeting to the hashtag or emailing your questions to askCCR@ccrjustice.org. SNAP will answer as many as possible during the livestream. Pope Francis likes to tweet – will he tell the truth about church torture and cover up?
Barbara Blaine, President and Founder of SNAP has a message to survivors of rape and abuse by the representatives of the Catholic Church:
“Please know that we are carrying your courage, compassion and support! Lots of the information we have conveyed came from your stories and efforts to expose the truth. We only hope we are doing you proud! If you want to convey any information, concerns or questions please let us know asap! Gratefully, Barbara Blaine”
This is the second time this year the Vatican has been called by an international body to account for its handling of the crisis of sexual violence throughout the Catholic Church. I hope such global attention will continue until the Catholic Church stops doing what they did to me and countless others while hiding behind God.
SNAP knows and I know firsthand that worldwide the children and vulnerable adults have been and continue to be subjected to widespread and systemic rape and sexual violence by priests and others associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Because of all the media attention now they do it anywhere children are isolated: Third World countries, on Native American reservations, in homes and convents where children are hidden away from society. The Vatican’s policies and practices enable this violence.
The Committee Against Torture has been clear that rape and sexual violence constitute forms of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In April, SNAP and CCR submitted reports to the Committee, detailing how the Vatican has violated the core principles of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, which it ratified in 2002.”
In the 5/2/14 article on the Huffington Post website (Vatican Urges U.N. Not To Equate Sex Abuse With Torture As Hearings Get Underway), the Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi stressed the Holy See’s “strong commitment against any form of torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.” Lombardi urged the U.N. Committee Against Torture to resist pressure from nongovernmental organizations “with a strong ideological character” that are intent on including the sexual abuse of minors in a discussion about torture. Of course he is referring to survivor advocacy organizations that include SNAP and BishopAccountability.
The Vatican’s permanent observer to the U.N. in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, made the same lame comment heard so often: that the incidence of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy was “the lowest” among all the professions, including teachers and judges. Pointing the finger is not a solution to rapist priests. He said suggestions that the church was some kind of “incubator” for abusive clergy were “dishonest and illogical.” Thou doth protest too much – because that is just what it is a hatching ground for vultures that prey on children.
Pope Francis and his cohorts did not appreciate the scathing report by the U.N. (last February) ordering the Holy See to open its files on clergy who had “concealed their crimes” and called on the church to remove suspected or known abusers. Pope Francis defended the church saying it had acted with “transparency and responsibility” on the issue. Every day we read accounts of another rapist priest, another cover-up by the bishop of a diocese, another survivor’s life ruined by mental and physical torture – how can he lie and deny?
SNAP, which represents 18,000 victims, said Friday that hundreds of children and adults were still being “sexually violated, tortured and assaulted” by Catholic priests. “Torture and violence can be subtle and manipulative. Or it can be blatant and brutal,” said SNAP President Barbara Blaine. “Either way, it’s horribly destructive to the human spirit, especially when inflicted on the young by the powerful, on the truly devout by the allegedly holy.” “Nothing has succeeded in getting Vatican officials to stop this violence,” she added. All of us, survivors, advocates and loved ones will never give up until they are stopped.
When the agents of the Catholic Church rape and torture children, they enter the Gate of Hell. As Dante wrote in one of the greatest literary works of humankind, it says on the Gate of Hell:
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'entrate -- Abandon all hope, ye who enter here...
In Italian, it means more than just losing hope – but Pope Francis can read Italian so he knows what it means – they are losing their souls.
The hearings will be streamed live here: URL: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/ From 10 am-12 pm CET (4 am-6 am EST) on Monday, May 5th, the Committee will question the Vatican on its compliance with the Convention. From 3 pm-6 pm CET (9 am-12 pm EST) on Tuesday, May 6th, the Vatican will respond to the Committee’s questions. Both broadcasts will be in English. Afterwards SNAP will report:
Tune in to our report-back on Tuesday, May 6, at 8:30 pm CET (2:30 pm EST): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au3ZwOOwGvs on YouTube. You can follow the global conversation about this historic hearing on Twitter using the hashtag #VaticanAccountability and ask questions before or during the report-back by tweeting to the hashtag or emailing your questions to askCCR@ccrjustice.org. SNAP will answer as many as possible during the livestream. Pope Francis likes to tweet – will he tell the truth about church torture and cover up?
Barbara Blaine, President and Founder of SNAP has a message to survivors of rape and abuse by the representatives of the Catholic Church:
“Please know that we are carrying your courage, compassion and support! Lots of the information we have conveyed came from your stories and efforts to expose the truth. We only hope we are doing you proud! If you want to convey any information, concerns or questions please let us know asap! Gratefully, Barbara Blaine”
This is the second time this year the Vatican has been called by an international body to account for its handling of the crisis of sexual violence throughout the Catholic Church. I hope such global attention will continue until the Catholic Church stops doing what they did to me and countless others while hiding behind God.
SNAP knows and I know firsthand that worldwide the children and vulnerable adults have been and continue to be subjected to widespread and systemic rape and sexual violence by priests and others associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Because of all the media attention now they do it anywhere children are isolated: Third World countries, on Native American reservations, in homes and convents where children are hidden away from society. The Vatican’s policies and practices enable this violence.
The Committee Against Torture has been clear that rape and sexual violence constitute forms of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In April, SNAP and CCR submitted reports to the Committee, detailing how the Vatican has violated the core principles of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, which it ratified in 2002.”
In the 5/2/14 article on the Huffington Post website (Vatican Urges U.N. Not To Equate Sex Abuse With Torture As Hearings Get Underway), the Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi stressed the Holy See’s “strong commitment against any form of torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.” Lombardi urged the U.N. Committee Against Torture to resist pressure from nongovernmental organizations “with a strong ideological character” that are intent on including the sexual abuse of minors in a discussion about torture. Of course he is referring to survivor advocacy organizations that include SNAP and BishopAccountability.
The Vatican’s permanent observer to the U.N. in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, made the same lame comment heard so often: that the incidence of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy was “the lowest” among all the professions, including teachers and judges. Pointing the finger is not a solution to rapist priests. He said suggestions that the church was some kind of “incubator” for abusive clergy were “dishonest and illogical.” Thou doth protest too much – because that is just what it is a hatching ground for vultures that prey on children.
Pope Francis and his cohorts did not appreciate the scathing report by the U.N. (last February) ordering the Holy See to open its files on clergy who had “concealed their crimes” and called on the church to remove suspected or known abusers. Pope Francis defended the church saying it had acted with “transparency and responsibility” on the issue. Every day we read accounts of another rapist priest, another cover-up by the bishop of a diocese, another survivor’s life ruined by mental and physical torture – how can he lie and deny?
SNAP, which represents 18,000 victims, said Friday that hundreds of children and adults were still being “sexually violated, tortured and assaulted” by Catholic priests. “Torture and violence can be subtle and manipulative. Or it can be blatant and brutal,” said SNAP President Barbara Blaine. “Either way, it’s horribly destructive to the human spirit, especially when inflicted on the young by the powerful, on the truly devout by the allegedly holy.” “Nothing has succeeded in getting Vatican officials to stop this violence,” she added. All of us, survivors, advocates and loved ones will never give up until they are stopped.
When the agents of the Catholic Church rape and torture children, they enter the Gate of Hell. As Dante wrote in one of the greatest literary works of humankind, it says on the Gate of Hell:
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'entrate -- Abandon all hope, ye who enter here...
In Italian, it means more than just losing hope – but Pope Francis can read Italian so he knows what it means – they are losing their souls.
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