The Devil is in the Vatican

On March 10, 2010 Rev. Gabriele Amorth, the chief exorcist of the Vatican (this is a full time job?!?), said "the Devil is at work inside the Vatican," and that "when one speaks of ‘the smoke of Satan’ in the holy rooms, it is all true—including these latest stories of violence and pedophilia."

So the good news is that they are officially admitting that something sinister, and by their definition evil, is going on in the Vatican.

The bad news is that something sinister and, by their definition evil, is going on in the Vatican.

From the popes brother slapping around choir boys to the papal aide's prostitution ring, to the excommunication of the families of little girls for consenting to life saving surgery (and the retention of the vile rapist who made that surgery necessary), to the continual allegations of sexual abuse by church officials, to the lies and condemnation of condoms and birth control that the church offers as truth to countries dying at alarming rates from AIDS, the Papal city has been a conflagration of evil for years now.
The worst thing is that the Pope, the catholic churches moral and spiritual guide, is himself at the centre of it all, and has provided a framework and a safe haven within which these predators can operate.
The Vatican is looking more and more like the very model of an tyrannical oligarchy. A group of elites who demand dogmatic morality as their set of rule, but see themselves as above judgment BY that moral code. Trust is their currency, but secrecy is their economy and the price WE pay is the welfare of our children.

In a document drafted by the now Pope (called the Crimen Sollicitationis)and sent to all of the bishops during Ratzingers appointment as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the Vatican office responsible for investigating abuse claims) he delineated very clearly the Vatican's policy on what to do if claims of sexual abuse arise.

Cover it up.

That's right. The man who was the head of the department for investigating claims of sexual abuse, outlined a policy of silence for incidents of child rape. Children under the care of men whom society is supposed to trust were entrusted to those who had been given the papal green light to rape and abuse them with no real consequence. Not only was the order for secrecy given, but a statute of limitations was placed on that particular obstruction of justice.

"Until the age of 18, then 10 more years"

What was the penalty for disobedience if one moral priest took a stand?
His career.
The rules were outlined with the explicit instruction that it was "under pain of excommunication" to defy his edict.

Does that place the blame on the Pope for the rape, pain and suffering of those innocents? I say that it does. While he didn't pull the trigger (or the zipper), he DID create a culture of secrecy around this terrible crime. He created a framework in which the rapists KNEW that they would likely not be held accountable, and face little more than embarrassment from their superiors.
He became the head of an effort to suppress any "embarrassing story", and created the priestly shuffle as the solution and the punishment.

Enraged yet? You should be.

If not, then lets talk about something more personal than just setting out immoral rules of conduct.

How about the case of an 11-year-old German boy identified as Wilfried F.? He was taken on a vacation trip to the mountains by a priest. After that, he was given alcohol, locked in a bedroom, stripped, and forced to give the priest oral sex.
That priest was transferred from Essen to Munich for ‘therapy’ by then-Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, with assurances that he would no longer have children in his care. Very shortly after this, Vicar General Gerhard Gruber who was Ratzinger’s deputy, returned him to ‘pastoral’ work, where he carried on his career of rape and abuse.
THERAPY?? How dare he decide what the penalty should be? How dare he fire and forget at this problem. He moved the offender, and hoped for the best. Hoped at the cost of children's safety.

This is only ONE telling of many stories like this.

But if this crime isn't enough to condemn this cowardly bastard of a man, we can look at some of his other indiscretions.

This isn't his only crime, although it would be enough for me to see a desire for his arrest and jailing.

He has repeatedly lied about the situation of AIDS in Africa, saying that condoms make the AIDS problem worse, and preaching that they are against the faith to those who are suffering. This contributes to an epidemic spread of the disease that kills millions a year.
Not enough? How about his unreasoning hatred for gays?
He has publicly stated that gay marriage is a threat to all of creation and is reason for concerns about our environment. Even going so far as to say that "saving mankind from homosexuality" is as important as saving the rain-forests.
This kind of statement would be branded hate speech if his white robe was to extend in a pointed hat covering all but his eyes. The only thing that is missing is the burning cross. How does he get away with it? How do we let him?

Christian privilege.

He has lit the fires of hatred under a witch hunt for gays in the priesthood. Rooting them out whenever he can. In the seminary, candidates must undergo a psychological screening to ensure that they lust for the right gender. He has even gone so far as to call it an "objective disorder"

Does it seem strange that he is rooting out the homosexuals with such verve, but is completely unconcerned with identifying pedophiles with the same panicked effort?
It does if you live as the highest official to an organization whose skewed moral compass leads a faith based group that believes his authority comes from God himself.
He has repeatedly placed children in danger, by shuffling pedophiles to new places for them to hunt for the prey.
Prey in the form of our children.

We may not be able to stop the pedophiles before they act, but we can speak out against the monster who allows it.
We can make the pedophiles pay for what they have done, instead of merely having to move.


This is a message to Catholics;

I know that you have your faith, and I am not using this space to argue its merits.
I know that you believe that faith comes at a price, even the bible says that it will.
But I also know that you love your children.
There are parameters for every belief, for every dogma, for every set of morals, outside which we simply can't live.
A border that just can't be crossed.
Are you willing to set that border to such a distance that it will encompass sacrificing the safety of your children?
Are you willing to send them to a place that has a directive from its senior member to ENSURE that abuses of your children will be ignored and kept secret?
My hope is that, no matter how strong your faith, that the cost of your faith, does not include your children's well-being and safety.

My mother once told me;
"When a person shows you who they are" (as the pope has shown us for years)

"Believe them"

He has shown himself to be a hateful, immoral, unreasoning, monster in the past.

You know what?

I believe him.

The devil IS at work in the Vatican, and his name is Joseph Alois Ratzinger.






Rev Ratzinger slaps children in choir
http://bit.lycmrxAg

Papal Prostition ring
http://bit.ly/9QMfu5

GIrls family ecommunicated for 9 year olds life saving abortion
http://bit.ly/9SPyTd

Rapist step fathers crime "not serious enough" http://bit.ly/9SPyTd

Pope lies and says that Condoms make AIDS problem worse
http://bit.ly/c0dxQQ

Saving mankind from gays more important than preserving rain-forest.
http://bit.ly/TGNA2