Spin Dry

Via whatreallyhappened.com, The Observor in the UK reported in August 2003 that, in 1962, Pope John Paul XXIII put his seal to a document instructing Bishops and priests to cover up cases of sexual abuse under pain of excommunication.

The instructions outline a policy of 'strictest' secrecy in dealing with allegations of sexual abuse and threatens those who speak out with excommunication.

They also call for the victim to take an oath of secrecy at the time of making a complaint to Church officials. It states that the instructions are to "be diligently stored in the secret archives of the Curia [Vatican] as strictly confidential. Nor is it to be published nor added to with any commentaries."

And, later in the article:

Lawyers point to a letter the Vatican sent to bishops in May 2001 clearly stating the 1962 instruction was in force until then. The letter is signed by Cardinal Ratzinger, the most powerful man in Rome beside the Pope and who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - the office which ran the Inquisition in the Middle Ages.

And now, that man is Pope himself. Looks like we get to look forward to a reign that will perpetuate (if not sanction) sexual abuse of children by priests, prohibit birth control to places that are ravaged by over-population and sexually transmitted diseases, meddle in the politics of other nations over the issue of abortion, and, via their anti-choice, anti-women clergy positions, continue to try to keep over half the world's population as second class citizens.

Hey, but 120 Cardinals can't be wrong, right? Pope Ratzo must have quite a collection of incriminating Polaroids in his possession. How else to explain a decision by the College of Cardinals that just gets more and more wrong with each revelation? Former Hitler Youth. Bigoted against non-Catholics. Insists that he is the only religious authority in the world. Europe and the US are the enemies. Grand Inquisitor, no matter what he claims. And now this...

The stench from Vatican City is becoming unbearable. Let's start the meme now, and call Pope Ratzo what he really is: The Catholic Imam.