Pope’s Decision “Partly Prompted” By CLaims Over Influence Of Gay Lobby Within Vatican City

The Irish Times reports:

Italian daily La Repubblica has sensationally claims that Pope Benedict’s resignation was at least partly prompted by an internal report prepared by three senior cardinals, alleging that various lobbies, including a gay lobby, exercise an “inappropriate influence” in internal Holy See affairs.
The newspaper suggests that such was Benedict’s dismay when presented with the details of the report on December 17th that it hardened his long-meditated decision to resign. The internal report prepared by Cardinals Julian Herranz, Josef Tomko and Salvatore De Giorgi had been commissioned by Benedict himself.
He had ordered it in response to the so-called Vatileaks scandal which culminated with the arrest and subsequent conviction last autumn of the Pope’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, found guilty of having stolen confidential documents from the papal apartment.
In the article, it is claimed that the cardinals reported that various lobbies within the Holy See were consistently breaking the sixth and seventh commandments, namely “thou shalt not steal” and “thou shalt not commit adultery”.
The “stealing” was in particular related to the Vatican Bank, IOR, whilst the sexual offences were related to the influence of an active gay lobby within the Vatican.
Last week, when presiding over the Ash Wednesday celebrations in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict spoke of “divisions” which “besmirch” the face of the church. In a famous homily at the 2005 Via Crucis Easter celebrations in Rome, just days before the death of John Paul II, the then Cardinal Ratzinger had spoken of the “filth” in the church, a comment interpreted by many as a reference to the worldwide clerical sex abuse scandal.
However, La Repubblica claims the cardinals’ 300 page report speaks of “Impropriam Influentiam” on the part of various lobbies, some of them of a “worldly nature”, reflecting an “outside influence”. The Rome daily recalls the figure of papal gentleman, Angelo Balducci, accused three years ago of being a member of a gay ring active within the Vatican and involving choristers and seminarians.
The paper does not explain the source of its information on the cardinals report nor does it provide a direct quotation from any part of the report. Rather it claims that its findings are based on information received from an unnamed Vatican source.
A Vatican spokesman had no comment to make on the allegations.

Best-response-ever by The Divine Miss “M”:

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

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.

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?

United Nations Condemns Gay Death Penalty

Joe.My.God. reports:

Yesterday the United Nations approved a resolution that condemns the killing of LGBT persons either by governments or via “extrajudicial” means such as hate crimes. Via press release from the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission:

An international coalition of organizations dedicated to human rights celebrated yesterday’s historic vote in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to pass resolution condemning extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The vote reversed the events of 2010 when the same body voted to strip the resolution of reference to “sexual orientation.” The UNGA also expanded upon its commitment to the universality of human rights by including “gender identity” for the first time in the resolution’s history. The resolution, which is introduced biennially in the Third Committee, urges States to protect the right to life of all people, including by calling upon States to investigate killings based on discriminatory grounds. It was introduced by the Government of Sweden and co-sponsored by 34 states from around the world.

IGLHRC notes that the United Arab Emirates attempted to strip ”sexual orientation” from the resolution on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, just as they did two years ago. (See the photo [below] for the vote tally on that amendment.) They add: “Another failed effort, led by the Holy See, would have stripped all specific references to groups at high risk for execution; however it was never formally introduced.”

The governments of the United States, Brazil, and many others spoke in favor of the resolution. IGLHRC reports that Egypt “spoke frequently” in opposition. Japan broke its long silence on the issue with this declaration: “We cannot tolerate any killings of persons because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Our delegation voted against the proposed amendment to this paragraph because we think it is meaningful to mention such killings from the perspective of protecting the rights of LGBT people.”

Read the full resolution here.

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.”

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.

“Moron Of The Week” Inductee Pope Benedict XVI: Gender Theory Could Lead To Self-Destruction Of Human Race

The BBC News reports:

Pope Benedict XVI has suggested that the need to save mankind from a destructive blurring of gender roles is as important as saving the rainforests.
He explained that defending God’s creation was not limited to saving the environment, but also about protecting man from self-destruction.
The Pope was delivering his end-of-year address to senior Vatican staff.
His words, later released to the media, emphasised his rejection of gender theory.
Speaking on Monday, Pope Benedict XVI warned that gender theory blurred the distinction between male and female and thus could lead to the “self-destruction” of the human race.
The speech has provoked anger from campaigners, who have interpreted the remarks as a call to save mankind from homosexuals and transsexuals.
Gender theory
Gender theory explores sexual orientation, the roles assigned by society to individuals according to their gender, and how people perceive their biological identity.

Gay and transsexual groups, particularly in the United States, promote it as a key to understanding and tolerance, but the Pope disagreed.

When the Roman Catholic Church defends God’s Creation, “it does not only defend the earth, water and the air… but (it) also protects man from his own destruction,” he said.
“Rainforests deserve, yes, our protection, but the human being … does not deserve it less,” the pontiff said.
It is not “out-of-date metaphysics” to “speak of human nature as ‘man’ or woman’”, he told scores of prelates gathered in the Vatican’s sumptuous Clementine Hall.
“We need something like human ecology, meant in the right way.”
The Catholic Church opposes gay marriage. It teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are.
Rev Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of Britain’s Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, described the Pope’s remarks as “totally irresponsible and unacceptable”.
“When you have religious leaders like that making that sort of statement then followers feel they are justified in behaving in an aggressive and violent way,” she said.
‘Rock festival’
The pope uses his traditional end-of-year speech to offer his Christmas greetings and say a few words about what he considers the important issues of the day.
This year, Pope Benedict also deplored the tendency to depict the Catholic church’s World Youth Day, which he attended in Sydney earlier this year, as mere spectacle.
He stressed that the event should not be considered a “variant of modern youth culture, as a kind of ecclesiastical rock festival with the Pope as the star,” but as the fruition of a “long exterior and interior path”.
This article has been amended to make it clear the Pope made no direct reference to homosexuals or transsexuals. 

PHILADELPHIA: Top Catholic Official Convicted Of Child Endangerment

Joe.My.God. reports:

In a historic verdict, today a Philadelphia jury found a high-ranking Catholic Church official guilty of child endangermentfor shielding the crimes of pedophile priests. This is the first time an American church official has been convicted of such charges.

• Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priest was being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said. Lynn, 61, had faced about 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted of all three counts he faced — conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment. He was convicted on one of the endangerment counts and acquitted of the other two counts, leaving him with the possibility of up to seven years in prison.
• On cross-examination, Lynn acknowledged that he had not helped the 10-year-old altar boy raped by the Rev. Edward Avery in 1999, seven years after Lynn met with another Avery accuser. “And I’m sorry about that,” Lynn said. Avery is in prison after admitting the crime. One of the key exhibits was a gray folder found in a locked safe at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The folder contains a list of 35 suspected predator-priests — and was compiled by Lynn in 1994. At least one priest on the list was a parish pastor until this year. Lynn, the former secretary for clergy, testified that he created the list from secret church files containing hundreds of child sex-abuse complaints.

Bill Donohue is somehow claiming victory.

• The witch-hunt has come to an end, and those who have been clamoring for blood lost big time. What made this a witch-hunt was the decision of former Philadelphia D.A. Lynne Abraham to summarily ignore what she was empowered to do in 2001: she was given the charge “to investigate the sexual abuse of minors by individuals associated with religious organizations and denominations.” Had she done so, those cases of minors who may have been sexually molested by ministers, rabbis, and others, would have been investigated. Instead, absolutely nothing was done about these cases.

Vatican City: Pope’s Butler Scandal

Vatican City: Holy See Critizises US Nuns For Not Being Homophobes & Anti-Feminists Enough

Pink News UK reports: 

The Vatican has criticised a group of nuns for challenging settled doctrines and failing to speak out against equal marriage and abortion.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious was assessed by the Vatican and found to have “serious doctrinal problems”, the New York Times reports.

The nuns were accused of “radical feminism” and of challenging what it believes to be settled issues.

The group was formed in 1956 and has 1,500 members.

Sister Simone Campbell is a director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby which was begun by its members and criticised by the Vatican for focusing its work on economic injustice rather than opposition to abortion and marriage equality.

She told the New York Times: “We haven’t violated any teaching, we have just been raising questions and interpreting politics.”

A statement on the group’s website said it was “stunned” by the assessment.

“Because the leadership of LCWR has the custom of meeting annually with the staff of CDF in Rome and because the conference follows canonically-approved statutes, we were taken by surprise.

“This is a moment of great import for religious life and the wider church. We ask your prayers as we meet with the LCWR National Board within the coming month to review the mandate and prepare a response.”

Archbishop J Peter Sartain of Seattle was appointed by the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to lead a five-year reform of the women’s group.

The archbishop has said in the past that the “unique sacrifices” made by straight couples should be rewarded by a “special” system of marriage reserved for them exclusively.

He has also lent his support to a petition in the state of Washington which would see a public ballot on whether to revoke citizens’ rights to marry a person of the same sex. He wrote of treating people with love, but said “sexual intercourse is so intimate and significant that it is intended only for a man and woman in marriage”.

Italy: Government Plans To Tax Vatican’s Commercial Properties 

Vatican Child Rape Case Dropped

The Huffington Post reports:

A prominent sex abuse lawyer has dropped a high-stakes lawsuit that sought to hold Pope Benedict XVI and other top church officials responsible for a clergy sexual abuse case.
The Vatican’s U.S. attorney, Jeffrey S. Lena, welcomed the decision to drop the suit on Friday (Feb. 10), saying the case was “held together by no more than a mendacious web of allegations of international conspiracy.”
The plaintiff’s attorney, Jeffrey Anderson, said the case was withdrawn as a consequence of progress in a separate court case involving the bankruptcy bid of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
The case involved the victims of the late Rev. Lawrence Murphy, a priest who was accused of molesting some 200 boys at the Milwaukee-area St. John’s School for the Deaf between 1950 and 1974.
Documents published by The New York Times in March 2010 showed that, in 1998, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — led by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI — refused to defrock Murphy despite requests from U.S. bishops involved in the case.
The Vatican’s top spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, explained at the time that the Vatican had taken into account Murphy’s old age and ill health.
Anderson had argued that the documents demonstrated that the Vatican’s leadership had direct responsibility in protecting abusive priests. His suit had named Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, and his predecessor, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, as co-defendants in the case with Benedict.
Lena said “the Holy See is not responsible for the supervision of the more than 400,000 priests around the world.” The Vatican declined to add further comment on the case, referring to Lena’s statement.

You have no idea how much infuriates me. Those kid fuckers got a free pass once again.