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Recent Popes

Wrongs committed by all recent Popes

  • Denies Vatican and Catholic support for Fascism, including:
  • Supports inculturation of Catholics living in non-Catholic countries, by allowing them to take over the religious customs and culture of the majority. This happens a lot especially in Orthodox countries (where the Catholic inculturation gives rise to Uniates), and unconverted countries like those in Africa and Asia.
  • Refuses to learn from the past. Continues to support and sponsor anti-Semitism in Palestine and in Eastern-European countries. Doesn't realise or doesn't care about the the extent of the damage Catholics (Christians) did to the people of the Americas and Africa, when Pope John Paul II calls for a like conversion of non-Christian Asia.
  • Refuses to openly and truly acknowledge and accept responsibility for the genocide of Rwandans and Catholicism's hand in that and it's hand in the colonial genocide of the Congo. Mere handwaving and more non-apologies do not cut it.
  • Refuses to recognise that the Vatican's stance on contraception and safe sex are vastly increasing the occurrence of venereal diseases, especially AIDS, and therefore death, among the Church's adherents in Africa, South America and Asia. Opposes family planning, which encourages over-population and creates impoverished large families amongst peoples who'd otherwise choose to have fewer children.
    On his [John Paul's] many trips to Asia and Africa, he insisted that condoms not be used; and he argued for abstinence. These polices no doubt caused millions of deaths from AIDS and contributed to population growth in the Third World. [Link]

Against fertility treatments in Italy

Italians force referendum on fertility law - UK Guardian, October 1, 2004

More than a million people have signed a petition calling for a referendum to abolish a new Italian law on assisted reproduction which will make it harder for infertile couples to obtain treatment.
The fertility law is seen by many as an attack on Italy's secular democracy by traditional Catholic-minded MPs.
...Medical experts and opposition politicians say it is a Catholic law that is "anti-women" and "morally disgusting". Polls show that more than half the populations want to change or abolish it. Hundreds of couples have fled the restrictions to seek more flexible treatment abroad and others with less money have fought legal battles for the right to have treatment.

Benedict encourages Italy to ignore ballot - Herald Tribune, May 31, 2005

ROME A contentious referendum in Italy on medically assisted fertility is shaping up as a battleground for the Roman Catholic church - energized by a new pope with strong views on social issues - to assert its moral vision in a western world increasingly distant from the faith.
"You are obliged to illuminate the choice of Catholics and of all citizens in the imminent referendum on assisted procreation," [Pope] Benedict told Italian bishops at a conference at the Vatican.

Italians consider reform of harsh fertility law - UK Guardian, June 11, 2005

The law, one of the most restrictive in Europe...
...the number of would-be mothers going abroad has tripled.

But the referendum is about more than just the prospects for the childless. It has prompted a moral debate that has split parties of both left and right, stirred controversy over the role of the Roman Catholic church in public life and put a question mark over the scientific future of Italy.

Urging the flock not to read certain books: the return of censorship

Cardinal urges Catholics not to read 'Da Vinci Code' - The Boston Globe news, March 17, 2005:

It is extremely rare for high church officials to criticize a work of popular fiction, specialists said. But "The Da Vinci Code," which has sold 25 million copies and been translated into 44 languages, has caused innumerable headaches for the Catholic Church.
...
Starting in the 16th century, the Catholic Church compiled what it called the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a list of books the church had effectively censored. In earlier centuries, when the church either owned or controlled most of Europe's printing presses, books on the list could not be published
With the power of the Catholic Church receding, it can now only urge its followers to abstain from reading books it disapproves of. However, if it ever regains its old power and auto-da-fes return, chances are high that copies of this book will also be thrown into the fires.

John Paul II

  • Refuses to take action on behalf of the victims of abuse cases. Instead, Vatican and Church procedures for dealing with abuse protects the perpetrators. The Roman Church does not do anything useful to stop the abuse of nuns by priests in African, Asian and other countries. This also has a high frequency in America and parts of Europe. And it is historic: Pope Anacletus, the 15th century Pope John XXIII are famous amongst the early clergy who abused nuns, though this was a phenomenon not restricted to Popes alone but occurring amongst common priests too. Then there are cases of nuns abusing others: children who are deaf, women who were incarcerated in the Magdalene Laundries. This is not surprising, as nunneries were often brothels in the past as was said of the nunneries under Pope Leo III in the early 9th century. Of course, male clergy had owned and run brothels too.
  • Likes to threaten non-Christian countries and entire continents with conversion. He has called for the conversion of Asia in the 3rd millennium. This is seen by Catholics in those regions as a call to expedite their conversion schemes and an encouragement to use all means necessary, which in Christian parlance includes the use of violence, terrorism and genocide.
  • Known as the Saint factory: in visiting Korea he made so many dead Catholics into saints that almost overnight it became the country that has the 4th largest numbers of Saints. This is probably in an attempt to swell the Sainted numbers after having declared many "Saints" revered for centuries to be non-existent.
  • Saints and beatifies war-criminals, rapists, and the undeserving:
    • He has beatified an archbishop and had proclaimed the beatification of another, both of whom were highly involved in and supportive of the Croatia's Catholic Nazis (Ustashe) and the genocide they carried out - the same Ustashe renowned for their most inhumane methods of murdering Serbs, Jews and Gypsies.
    • Beatified Hitler's Pope, Pius XII and the anti-semitic, anti-civil rights Pope Pius XI
    • John Paul also beatified many criminal missionaries to China and Chinese converts (known for murder, rape and looting) of several centuries ago, ignoring protests by China. The Pope figured that for China to have any interest in Catholicism, it must have saints. It is not surprising that those beatified were of the usual criminal character.
    • The Pope also extended sainthood to the fraud famous for supposedly helping poor people, Mother Teresa. Since saints require miracles, one that was disproved was nevertheless accepted. It's no different than the so-called miracles of all the old saints. Fake miracles never stopped the Vatican, which had in the past even invented saints who never existed. Throughout history, the Vatican has made money out of frauds.
    • See more recently sainted criminals
  • Likes to advertise an apology for past crimes of Catholicism, and then when the time comes to make the heralded statements, they are hollow and have no true apology in them: for example, the non-apology to the Jews for the Holocaust. No sincere, meaningful or worthwhile amends have been made for the wrongs committed against Africans and the indigenous populations of the Americas and Australia, either. On other occasions when apologies are due, none (not even non-apologies) are forthcoming, for example, apologies to non-Christian countries like China, India, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam's distant and recent past for wrongs Catholics and the religion have committed against them. In fact, these wrongs are not even recognised, because these countries remain largely unconverted.
    See also: Apology for Christianity
  • Pretends concern for human rights whilst opposed to it:
    The defense of human rights is a principle now widely accepted across the world, but these rights are to be found neither within the Bible nor in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Quite the contrary, the church wished to "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's," for centuries condoning slavery and oligarchy. Well into the twentieth century, the Roman Catholic Church explicitly opposed democracy and human freedom in various parts of the world.
    Link, see also the Popes of the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century: Pius IX, Leo XIII and Pius XI, who were anti-human rights and anti-democratic.
  • Encourages superstitions:
    His overturning of Vatican II, which had attempted to bring the Roman Catholic church into the modern world. During his reign, superstitious miraculous sightings of Mary and Jesus were encouraged; even exorcisms returned to a church that for many decades had been skeptical about claims of demonic possession.
    Link
  • The Dominus Jesus document revokes the little tolerance that was granted by Vatican II.
  • More extensive documentation on John Paul II. Contains sections on Intolerance of Dissent, Hardening of the Church's Position on Contraception and Abortion and The Sex Abuse Scandal.
In the news: John Paul II

Ratzinger: Pope Benedict XVI

Ratzinger used to be the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was formerly called the Holy Inquisition. The same that had murdered so many people.
  • The Grand Inquisitor Takes the Throne
  • Pope Ratzinger - Bad News for Freedom, Secularism, Individualism
  • Vatican abortion treaty brings down government - The Guardian, February 11, 2006:
    The Vatican has inadvertently triggered the collapse of the government in Slovakia, one of the economic stars of the 10 entrants to the EU, in a row over abortion rights.
    It's not inadvertent. It is impressed upon Catholics that loyalty to Rome is of greater import for their 'souls' than loyalty to their own government.
  • Ratzinger continues Vatican intolerance:
    His condemnations are legion — of women priests, married priests, dissident theologians and homosexuals, whom he has declared to be suffering from an "objective disorder".

    He upset many Jews with a statement in 1987 that Jewish history and scripture reach fulfilment only in Christ — a position denounced by critics as "theological anti-semitism". He made more enemies among other religions in 2000, when he signed a document, Dominus Jesus, in which he argued: "Only in the Catholic church is there eternal salvation".

    ...One liberal theologian,when asked what he thought of a Ratzinger papacy, was more direct: "It fills me with horror."
    From: page 2 of Papal hopeful is a former Hitler Youth - The Sunday Times (Times Online UK), April 17, 2005
    The recent Vatican document Dominus Jesus reopened the rift between Protestant Churches and the Catholic Church.
  • Pope Benedict backs Intelligent Design (Creationism) and in Aug 2006 fired the Vatican astronomer who had vocally supported evolution. See more in the section on Intelligent Design.
Protecting abusive priests and criminalising the victims

Cardinal Ratzinger under Pope John Paul II covered-up sexual abuse by a Father Marcial Maciel.
Priestly Sin, Cover-Up - by Brian Ross for ABC news, April 26, 2002:

[Photo caption of journalist Brian Ross and Cardinal Ratzinger:] When approached by ABCNEWS' Brian Ross in Rome last week with questions of allegations against Father Marcial, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became visibly upset and actually slapped Ross's hand.
...
A trusted ally of Pope John Paul II has been accused of sexually abusing boys a half-century ago at an elite seminary for the Catholic Church.

The alleged victims say the Vatican knew of the allegations against Father Marcial Maciel and chose not to pursue them.
In fact, the pope has continued to praise 82-year-old Maciel, a Mexico native, as an effective leader of Catholic youth, despite detailed allegations sent to the Vatican four years ago saying the man was also a long-time pedophile.

Maciel denies the charges and said the men made them up only after leaving the Legion of Christ.
Maciel is the founder of the little-known but well-connected and well-financed Legion of Christ which has raised millions of dollars for the Church. Operating in the United States and 19 other countries, the Legion of Christ recruits boys as young as 10 years old to leave their families and follow a rigorous course of study to become priests.

"I think Father Maciel is one of the most powerful men in the Catholic Church today and also arguably the most mysterious," said Jason Berry [a Catholic investigative reporter and writer], author of Lead Us Not Into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children.
Warning, adult content: The ABC News article is available at Powerful Cardinal in Vatican Accused of Sexual Abuse Cover-Up. Hosted by a Christian site which considers all other forms of Christianity (including Catholicism) to be part of some "anti-Christ conspiracy".

Of course the priestly predator denies the charges, as others like him have. And with a long list of Papal paedophiles, it's expected that the Vatican in today's anti-abuse environment would try and cover up what has always been going on in their Churches.
Unable to keep the Church abuse-free, the Vatican wants to keep it free of publicity and scandal in future by suppressing such cases (in order to retain adherents who have left the Church in large numbers when such cases become public).

Pope 'obstructed' sex abuse inquiry - The Observer (Guardian Unlimited online), April 24, 2005

Confidential letter reveals Ratzinger ordered bishops to keep allegations secret
Jamie Doward, religious affairs correspondent

Pope Benedict XVI faced claims last night he had 'obstructed justice' after it emerged he issued an order ensuring the church's investigations into child sex abuse claims be carried out in secret.
The order was made in a confidential letter, obtained by The Observer, which was sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001.
It asserted the church's right to hold its inquiries behind closed doors and keep the evidence confidential for up to 10 years after the victims reached adulthood. The letter was signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected as John Paul II's successor last week.

...Ratzinger's letter states that the church can claim jurisdiction in cases where abuse has been 'perpetrated with a minor by a cleric'. The letter states that the church's jurisdiction 'begins to run from the day when the minor has completed the 18th year of age' and lasts for 10 years. It orders that 'preliminary investigations' into any claims of abuse should be sent to Ratzinger's office, which has the option of referring them back to private tribunals in which the 'functions of judge, promoter of justice, notary and legal representative can validly be performed for these cases only by priests'.
'Cases of this kind are subject to the pontifical secret,' Ratzinger's letter concludes. Breaching the pontifical secret at any time while the 10-year jurisdiction order is operating carries penalties, including the threat of excommunication.

The Ratzinger letter was co-signed by Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone who gave an interview two years ago in which he hinted at the church's opposition to allowing outside agencies to investigate abuse claims.

'In my opinion, the demand that a bishop be obligated to contact the police in order to denounce a priest who has admitted the offence of paedophilia is unfounded,' Bertone said.

...A spokeswoman in the Vatican press office declined to comment when told about the contents of the letter. 'This is not a public document, so we would not talk about it,' she said

. ...Lawyers acting for abuse victims claim it was designed to prevent the allegations from becoming public knowledge or being investigated by the police. They accuse Ratzinger of committing a 'clear obstruction of justice'.
...Shea criticised the order that abuse allegations should be investigated only in secret tribunals.
'They are imposing procedures and secrecy on these cases. If law enforcement agencies find out about the case, they can deal with it. But you can't investigate a case if you never find out about it. If you can manage to keep it secret for 18 years plus 10 the priest will get away with it,' Shea added.

Ratzinger told his flock in the US to vote for born-again Bush rather than Catholic Kerry

New pope intervened against Kerry in US 2004 election campaign - Yahoo news, April 19, 2005

In a June 2004 letter to US bishops enunciating principles of worthiness for communion recipients, Ratzinger specified that strong and open supporters of abortion should be denied the Catholic sacrament, for being guilty of a "grave sin." He specifically mentioned
"the case of a Catholic politician consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws,"
a reference widely understood to mean Democratic candidate Kerry, a Catholic who has defended abortion rights.

The letter said a priest confronted with such a person seeking communion "must refuse to distribute it."
A footnote to the letter also condemned any Catholic who votes specifically for a candidate because the candidate holds a pro-abortion position. Such a voter "would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for holy communion," the letter read.

The letter, which was revealed in the Italian magazine L'Espresso last year, was reportedly only sent to US Catholic bishops, who discussed it in their convocation in Denver, Colorado, in mid-June.
Sharply divided on the issue, the bishops decided to leave the decision on granting or denying communion to the individual priest. Kerry later received communion several times from sympathetic priests. Nevertheless, in the November election, a majority of Catholic voters, who traditionally supported Democratic Party candidates, shifted their votes to Republican and eventual winner George W. Bush.
In short: vote for Kerry, and you won't receive communion. What's next, you'll be excommunicated? This is what Popes threatened with in the past. This case merely shows how easily a voter's right of choice can be taken away by the Vatican and Catholicism's insistence on loyalty to the Pope. The Vatican colluding with Bush? Perhaps it's because of the Bush government's funding and support to Christian religious organisations (faith-based initiatives) and international missionary operations. Catholic Kerry probably didn't promise the Vatican any special perks.
(Or perhaps it involves more - See: Global Eye - Buried Treasure, by Chris Floyd - The Moscow Times, April 29, 2005.)

Another significant instance of a Pope intervening in the politics of another country and its governance:

In the 1930s, Pacelli [to become Pope Pius XII] and his associates negotiated with the Nazis to form a contract which got signed in 1933 as the Reich Concordat with the approval of the Pope [Pius XI]. Note that the Catholic hierarchy believes in the infallibility of Popes in matters of faith and morals (ever since the First Vatican Council of 1870). This Concordat with its Papal infallible authority had arguably neutralized the potential of 23 million Catholics to protest and resist and which helped Hitler into legal dictatorship. [Cornwell, p. 4]
From: Christianity in Europe during WWII, referring to Hitler's Pope by John Cornwell, himself a Catholic.
German Catholics in politics joined Hitler's fascist government en-masse, as it had been given Papal approval through the Concordat:
In the end, Hitler insisted that his signature on the concordat would depend on the [Catholic political party] Center Party's voting for the Enabling Act, the legislation that was to give him dictatorial powers. ...Next, Hitler insisted on the "voluntary" disbanding of the Center Party, the last truly parliamentary force in Germany. Again, Pacelli was the prime mover in this tragic Catholic surrender. The fact that the party voluntarily disbanded itself, rather than go down fighting, had a profound psychological effect, depriving Germany of the last democratic focus of potential noncompliance and resistance: In the political vacuum created by its surrender, Catholics in the millions joined the Nazi Party, believing that it had the support of the Pope. The German bishops capitulated to Pacelli's policy of centralization, and German Catholic democrats found themselves politically leaderless.
-- Hitler's Pope, John Cornwell
The pope's emissary in Germany, Papal Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, helped to demolish the young Weimar republic. After the liberal democratic Catholic leader Erzberger had been assassinated, the Pope's exertions became directed to the support of all Right-Wing movements in Germany, via the influence of the Catholic Centre Party. On march 23, 1933, the German Reichstag met, and the Catholic Party, led by its Catholic leaders, former chancellor Brüning and prelate Mgr. Kaas, personal friend of Pacelli, voted for Catholic Hitler. After this, having received, directly from the Vatican, orders to disband, the Catholic Party dissolved. Preached Pacelli to the German Catholics:
"...it is all the more necessary that the Catholics, deprived of diplomatic representation, should find in the diplomatic pacts between the Holy See and the National Socialist Government guarantees which can assure them ... the maintenance of their position in the life of the nation."
Mgr. Kaas, leader of the dissolved Catholic Party, put it even more bluntly: Catholics must support Hitler, he said. They should not have any fears about it. For Hitler's ideals were "noble ideals." Furthermore, "Hitler knows well how to guide the ship." In this way the first successful democracy on German soil had been destroyed.
Link
Other examples of 20th century Papal intervention in politics abound: including supporting Fascist countries during the Nazi period, suppression of Buddhism in Buddhist Vietnam.

Against priests getting married

Though celibacy was only introduced by Pope Gregory VII in the 11th century and thus was barely practised prior to that time (or even after, not until the Reformation which forced the Popes and the priests to behave), the Vatican still won't allow the priesthood to revert to the state before Gregory VII's ruling:
Bishops reject married priesthood - BBC News, 22 October 2005

Catholic bishops say the Church is suffering from a worldwide shortage of priests, but say allowing marriage is not the answer. Liberal Catholics have suggested that the key to the shortage [of priests] was making celibacy optional for new priests. But the bishops' statement called celibacy a "priceless gift" and dismissed the idea of married priests.

Against equal rights for homosexuals

Though many Popes in the past were openly homosexual, this Pope, like other recent Popes, is hypocritically opposed to allowing homosexuality in laity.
Vatican fuels gay clergy debate - BBC News, 28 November 2005

The Vatican's new policy on homosexuality and the priesthood seems certain to cause further controversy within the Catholic Church.
...Faced with the question of whether to ordain gay men, the Vatican seems to have stopped short of an outright ban. It says anyone who is actively gay, or has "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies, or who supports the "gay culture", should not in future be ordained.
"The US bishops have discouraged researchers from asking questions about sexual orientation because they know that the results would make front-page news across the country" - Father Thomas Reese

New Pope condemns Spain gay bill - BBC News, 22 April, 2005

The Vatican, under the new leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, has condemned a Spanish government bill allowing marriage between homosexuals.
...The bill would make Spain the first European country to allow homosexual people to marry and adopt children. Only Belgium and the Netherlands allow same-sex marriages. ...

A senior Vatican official described the bill - which is likely to become law within a few months - as iniquitous. He said Roman Catholic officials should be prepared to lose their jobs rather than co-operate with the law.
...Interviewed in the Italian newspaper, Corriere de la Serra, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo said the Church was making an urgent call for freedom of conscience for Roman Catholics and appealing to them to resist the law.

Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero took office a year ago making it clear he intended to remove what he called the church's undeniable advantages and make Spain a secular state.
By calling for Spain's Catholics to resist laws, the Vatican is effectively making them show their allegiance to the Vatican over their own democratically-elected government. This is how the Vatican recently toppled the Slovakian government over an abortion treaty.

Spain paves way for gay marriage - BBC News, 21 April, 2005

The Spanish Bishops Conference, which has opposed the bill from its conception, says it goes "against the common good" and that it was "unfair that real marriage should be treated the same as the union of persons of the same sex".

Gay marriage around the globe - BBC News, 22 December 2005

In 2004, Spain's Socialist government launched a radical reform of family law. It approved a draft law that will legalise homosexual marriage and give gays and lesbians full status as parents, enabling them to adopt children. The Catholic Church called on Spanish Catholics to fight the legislation.
It should be noted that socialist governments in Europe have nothing to do with communism or its related dogmas. Most countries in western Europe are called socialist, meaning they're welfare states (the state takes care of retired people and those unable to work, which is accomplished through higher tax rates). They are fervently democratic and opposed to communism in all its forms. Outside of Europe, "socialist government" means exactly the same as "communist government".