Rachel Maddow On Pope Francis Previous Stand On Civil Unions In Argentina

Vatican City: Pope Benedict XVI’s Full Letter Of Resignation

CNN reports:

Pope Benedict XVI on Monday said he plans on resigning the papal office on February 28. The following is the full text of Benedict’s declaration:

• Dear Brothers,

• I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering.

• However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

• Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

• From the Vatican, 10 February 2013
• BENEDICTUS PP XVI

We all knew they believe this. But now is official.

Vatican City: Naked FEMEN Activists Disrupt Speech By Pope Benedict XVI

Gotta love them.

Joe.My.God. reports:

Yesterday topless Ukrainian activists FEMEN disrupted a Vatican City speech by the Pope by disrobing and screaming “Homophobe! Shut up!” at the little man in the window. Police moved in quickly and one woman attending the speech repeatedly smacked a protester with her umbrella. Below is FEMEN’s own video of the action, which begins with a strategy session. Cube dwellers should note that there are boobies ahead.

United Kingdom: Catholic Bishop Mark Davies Compares Gay Marriage To Nazism

Joe.My.God. reports:

“Past generations have gathered in this cathedral on Christmas night amid many shadows which seemed to obscure the future for them. We think of the ideologies of the past century, Communism and Nazism, which in living memory threatened to shape and distort the whole future of humanity. These inhuman ideologies would each challenge in the name of progress the received Christian understanding of the sanctity of human life and the family. Winston Churchill, Britain’s wartime Prime Minister, a man without clear, religious belief, saw in this deadly struggle nothing less than the defence of Christian civilisation.

“Few of our political leaders today appear to glimpse the deeper issues when the sanctity of human life and the very identity of marriage, the foundation of the family, are threatened. his Christmas we are also conscious of new shadows cast by a Government that was pledged at its election to support the institution of marriage. The Prime Minister has decided without mandate, without any serious consideration, to redefine the identity of marriage itself, the foundation of the family for all generations to come. This is again done in the name of progress. The British people have reason to ask on this night where is such progress leading?” - Bishop of Shrewsbury Mark Davies, from remarks released in advance of tonight’s midnight mass in Britain.

Christopher Hitchens: Hell’s Angel - Mother Teresa Of Calcutta 

VATICAN CITY: Pope Blesses Uganda’s Rebecca “Kill The Gays” Kadaga

Joe.My.God. reports:

Ugandan Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, who last monthpromised the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act as a “Christmas gift to Christians,” yesterday appeared in Vatican City to receive the motherfucking blessing of the Pope. From the website of the Uganda Parliament:

Kadaga who led a delegation of Ugandan legislators to the Vatican expressed delight at meeting the Pope and visiting St Peter’s Basilicca. “I think this is a moment that cannot be repeated. We have been reading about him, hearing stories about St.Peter’s Basilica but now we are here physically. I think it is something that I will remember all my life. Its a very great moment and I thank God for this opportunity,” she said minutes after meeting the Pope. The Speaker dedicated to all Ugandans readings from the book of St. Mark which the Pope quoted in several languages during the Vatican mass.

And there you have it. A blessing from the Pope upon the woman who wants you executed. It can’t get any plainer than that, can it?

Holy Tweet by Holy Bigot

Guess who’s super upset about this cartoon?

Vatican City: Gay Marriage Ain’t No Different From Polygamy & Polyandry

The Huffington Post reports:

The Vatican has long maintained a hardline stance against gay marriage, but over the last few days, the Holy See has intensified its anti-gay agitprop, vowing to fight LGBT marriage equality around the world.
According to Reuters, the governing body of the Catholic Church launched an anti-gay media campaign over the weekend, pledging to never stop fighting attempts to “erase the privileged role of heterosexual marriage” — a union it called “an achievement of civilization.”
The Associated Press writes:

• In a front-page article in Saturday’s Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, the Holy See sought to frame itself as the lone voice of courage in opposing initiatives to give same-sex couples legal recognition. In a separate Vatican Radio editorial, the pope’s spokesman asked sarcastically why gay marriage proponents don’t now push for legal recognition for polygamous couples as well…
• The Vatican’s anti-gay marriage media blitz came after three U.S. states approved same-sex marriage by popular vote in the election that returned Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency, Spain upheld its gay marriage law, andFrance pushed ahead with legislation that could see gay marriage legalized early next year.

“You could say that the church, on this level, is bound to lose,” historian Lucetta Scaraffia wrote for the L’Osservatore Romano. “But this is not the case.”
Scaraffia added that the “church’s fight on moral issues such as gay marriage and abortion has drawn support and admiration from many non-Catholics,” according to the Religion News Service.
Other than reiterating the belief that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and that the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman must be upheld for the benefit of society, the Vatican also adopted a new line of attack in its fight against gay marriage this weekend.
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi likened gay marriage to polygamy and polyandry in an editorial on Vatican Radio — a service that, as Reuters notes, is broadcast around the world in “some 30 languages.”
“Monogamous marriage between a man and woman is an achievement of civilization,” Lombardi asserted.
And if gay marriage should be a right that is freely chosen, Lombardi argued, “why not contemplate also freely chosen polygamy and, of course, not to discriminate, polyandry?”
“Why not? If two men can pledge their love in a legally recognized union, who’s to stop a woman from marrying a wedge of cheese, right? I mean, where does it end?” wrote Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams in response to the Vatican’s anti-gay campaign.
In a post entitled “The Vatican hates gays,” Williams continued:

• Father Lombardi isn’t the first person with a head full of faulty logic to trot out the “This slope! It’s just so darn slippery!” argument, of course. Last month, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert declared, when pressed about same-sex unions on a campaign stop, “You know, we don’t have polygamy and bigamy and all of these things in, in the federal government. It’s the states that take care of that.”

Williams also cited Australian senator Cory Bernadi’s recent comments that likened gay marriage to bestiality.
“Will that be a future step? In the future, will we say: ‘These two creatures love each other, and maybe they should be able to be joined in a union’? I think that these things are the next step,” Bernadi said in September. According to News.com.au,Bernadi resigned shortly after making that comment.
This week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops convened and appeared to stand firm with the Vatican in its unwavering position against gay marriage.
According to the CBS News, U.S. bishops acknowledged Monday that “voters rejected the stands they took against gay marriage and birth control, but gave no sign they would change their strategy ahead.”
Still, despite the hardline stance adopted by the Vatican and the Catholic leadership here in the U.S., Williams pointed out that the Catholic support that President Barack Obama received in this year’s election may prove that many American Catholics “believe in marriage equality… and the reproductive rights of our fellow citizens.”

Australia: The Age Newspaper Calls For A Royal Commission Against Catholic Church For Child Rape Cases

Via it’s website:

ENOUGH is enough. How much more evidence of child-sex crimes by clergy is needed before a royal commission is launched? This newspaper has been saying for months the Victorian parliamentary inquiry is woefully inadequate. It lacks the time, resources and independence to deliver justice to the many thousands of victims and to generate the changes that might prevent many thousands more innocent children falling prey to paedophile priests.

There is abundant evidence not only of these cruel and despicable crimes, but that the Catholic Church has long been protecting perpetrators, people who ought to be investigated and, if convicted, imprisoned. The church’s hierarchy should long ago have given all relevant documentation to the police, who complain that it disgracefully refuses to refer any of the alleged cases to authorities. A royal commission would force such disclosure, without which justice will not be done.

This is a national issue - another reason why the Victorian inquiry is inadequate. On Thursday, a 30-year veteran of the New South Wales police force told a national TV audience of a cover-up by the Catholic Church of child sex crimes by some priests.

The Victorian inquiry has heard harrowing testimony from victims, experts and law enforcers. It has heard estimates that there are tens of thousands of victims. It has heard an estimate that as many as one in 15 priests is guilty of these crimes. It has heard that rape of children by priests continues.

The church claims it has dealt with the issue effectively and appropriately through internal processes. This is absurd and insulting; there can be no confidence that an organisation can properly and independently investigate itself, particularly when it has been seen to conceal the crimes.

This newspaper believes it is time the federal government leads action against this scourge. We are calling for a national royal commission. That is the best hope of rendering justice to the victims and their families and loved ones, of bringing criminals to justice and of saving more vulnerable young people from horrific abuse.

The paper also calls for Marriage Equality, saying that President Obama’s victory after endorsing gay marriage should be proof enough to back this right for gay people, even in a religious society like both the Australian and American.

Slovakia Rejects Civil Partnerships

Joe.My.God. reports:

The Slovakian Parliament today rejected a civil partnerships bill after hearing strong opposition from the Catholic Church. 

During two days of heated debate, conservatives accused the opposition of blasphemy, and said granting same-sex relationships equivalent legal status as heterosexual marriage was against traditional family values and a risk for society. Only 14 of 129 deputies present voted to send the bill to a second reading, 94 were against and 20 abstained. “The purpose of the official recognition of same-sex partnerships’ legitimacy is the fulfilment of these people’s love and responsible relationships,” said opposition Freedom and Solidarity party member Martin Poliacik, co-author of the bill, in his opening speech to parliament last week. Replying for the Christian Democrats, also an opposition party, Pavol Hrusovsky, former speaker of the house, said: “This draft law, ladies and gentlemen, is an insane legislative attempt to crash the entire legal system.” “This is something that is unprecedented,” he said. “You are trying to change the face of this country.”

This was the third attempt since 1997 to pass the bill.

RELATED: In 2010 Slovakia’s first-ever gay pride parade was cancelled after dozens of skinheads and neo-Nazis pelted participants with rocks, eggs, and a tear gas grenade.  No parades have been held since then.

MINNESOTA: Archbishop Tells Woman To Reject Her Gay Son Or Go To Hell

Joe.My.God. reports:

Truth Wins Out reports that Minnesota Archbishop John Nienstadt responded to a parishioner’s letter by telling her that she should reject her gay son or she too will go to hell. Think Progress has the letter: 

• I write to inform you that the teaching of the Catholic Church on homosexuality,a s described in paragraphs 2357 and 2358 and 2359 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is rooted in Scripture and based on the Natural Moral Law. It, therefore, shares in God’s revelation to us. Catholics are bound in conscience to believe this teaching. Those who do not cannot consider themselves to be Catholic and ought not to participate in the sacramental life of the Church. Indeed, some might find this is a hard saying by many of Jesus’ teachings were likewise received as such. I urge you to reconsider the position that you expressed in your letter. Your eternal salvation may well depend upon a conversation of heart on this topic.

Truth Wins Out calls Nienstadt’s letter “spiritual bullying of the highest order.” 

• Such rejection can have devastating consequences for LGBT youth: according to a 2009 study conducted by San Francisco State University researcher Caitlin Ryan and published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, LGBT teens who experienced negative feedback from their families were 8 times more likely to have attempted suicide, 6 times more vulnerable to severe depression, and 3 times more likely to use drugs than teens who did not experience negative feedback.

“Tell me, Archbishop, Pope, what purpose does the Church serve attempting to influence the affairs of a secular state? The federal benefits under law currently denied gay couples certainly fall under the realm of Caesar, don’t they? No one is forcing the Catholic Church to marry gay couples if that is not the Church’s wish. You can keep the sanctity of Catholic marriage solely between heterosexual couples if you feel that is what’s required (again though, I caution you on the dangers of presumed infallibility). All we are asking is for you to extend the open hand of tolerance instead of the closed fist of fear and hate. 

“As American citizens, we respect the right for everyone to practice whichever religion they so choose, including the right to not practice one at all. Haven’t we learned enough from the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Talibans of the world? What does it benefit the Church to attempt to influence secular policy in this country, especially when that influence is to deny basic human rights to others? Will you now assume Caesar’s throne, grasping the transitory ephemera of worldly power and control, while forsaking the eternal kingdom of Heaven?”

“Moron Of The Week” Inductee Pope Benedict XVI Attacks Gay Marriage In France

Gay Star News reports:

The head of the Catholic church, Pope Benedict XVI, told a group of French bishops visiting Castel Gandolfo that the introduction of gay marriage will threaten society and the family in France.
The Pope attacked yesterday (21 September)France’s plans to legalise same-sex marriage without mentioning the issue directly.
He said: ‘The family is threatened by a conception of human nature that is proven to be defective, … defending the family and life in society is prophetic and anything but regressive. Marriage and the family are institutions that must be promoted and defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature, since whatever is harmful to them will in fact be injurious to society itself.’
The Pope thus raised three points: Firstly saying that marriage between man and woman is a ‘fact’ of nature and ‘threatened’ by other forms of marriage which are ‘proven’ to be ‘defective’.
Secondly, he warned of that the consequences of legalising gay marriage would harm society, perhaps a critical reference to the right to adoption by same-sex couples.
Thirdly, by saying that ‘defending the family and life is propophetic’ and not ‘regressive’, he is in fact calling upon the French Catholic lobby not to shy away and take a more active stance against the government’s plans to introduce same-sex marriage.
This attack by the Pope is unprecedented in its tenacity and its direct call to interfere in the affairs of a government. His previous attack on the introduction of same-sex marriage in Spain was much more subdued and less strongly worded.
The conservative Catholic lobby in France has been very vocal in its opposition to the country’s government plans to introduce same sex marrige, although some Bishops have remained silent fearing to be portrayed as regressive.
Last week, Christine Boutin, the leader of France’s Christian Democratic Party and one of France’s most vocal conservatives, called for a referendum on the issue and warned of ‘heavy consequences for society’ if the law were to go ahead.
She was joined by the Catholic Cardinal of France, Philippe Barbarin who warned that same-sex marriage will lead to ‘a breakdown in society.
‘This could have innumerable consequences. Afterward they will want to create couples with three or four members. And after that, perhaps one day the taboo of incest will fall.’
At the same time, Dominique Rey, the Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, stated that: ‘A referendum must be held to allow a real debate and to make sure the government is not in the grip of the lobbies.
‘A majority of the population agrees with the traditional view of marriage.’
However, according to a BVA French poll published in August, 65 percent of French people support gay marriage and 53 percent support adoption by gay couples.
The full draft of the bill to introduce same-sex marriage is expected to be presented to the French cabinet on the 31 October.

Vatican City: Pope Benedict XVI Blesses Porn Actors

Joe.My.God. reports:

Gay Star News reports that Ill Papa recently blessed two gay porn actors who appeared at the Vatican in priest drag.

The Pope has been tricked into blessing two porn actors and a video of the moment is set to be included in a new Bel Ami gay movie. That’s according to famous gay porn producer and Bel Ami founder George Duroy who annouced the news on an online forum. The new film, Scandal in Vatican, is going to be released in September. It is the story of a couple of young priests, dressed as Catholic clerical students, who enjoy their sex experiences in the little country in the heart of Italy’s capital, Rome. [snip] Scandal in Vatican will also see a football match in piazza San Pietro, the Vatican’s main square. The Italian press think that the Vatican could sue the company and ask for compensation. And the Italian pink press writes that the Bel Ami actors could become the new Pussy Riot, the pro-gay Russian punk rock band who were recently jailed for a anti-Putin protest in a church.

Gay Star News notes that photos with the Pope appear on one of the actor’s Facebook page, but those images appear to have been removed.