Forgive my French. But are you surprised by this: According to law firm Westphal Spilker Wastl (WSW), which conducted the investigation, Benedict failed to prevent abuse of minors during his tenure as archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982. ‘In a total of four cases, we reached a consensus there was a failure to act,’… Read more.
Pope Benedict XVI
Podcast: Benedict and Francis: Two Popes in a Pickle
Episode 9: The Co-Habitation Scandal Rivaling the Child Sex-Abuse Scandal in the Catholic Church Listen.
Benedict and Francis: Two Popes in a Pickle…
And things are getting very salty indeed. In 2012, international headlines suggested that the Vatican papers would shake the foundations of the Vatican much as the Pentagon papers did those of the Pentagon. But anyone who knew anything about papal history, or had merely seen season 1 of The Borgias, knew or should have known… Read more.
Thanks to EU, Turkey Ratifies Erdogan’s Dictatorial Rule
No doubt there was more media hype this time about a potential upset. But Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s reelection was as guaranteed on Sunday as Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s was on Sunday, March 18. Turkey’s long-standing leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won a new five-year term after securing outright victory in the first round… Read more.
The Abdication of Pope Benedict XVI
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. (Pope Benedict XVI, BBC, February 11, 2013) This, in part, is the papal announcement that shocked the world this morning. Here,… Read more.
The Beatification of Pope John Paul II
Nothing can compete with last Friday’s royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton for pomp and ceremony signifying nothing. But last Sunday’s beatification service for Pope John Paul II came pretty damn close. The service was conducted by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. For the uninformed heathens among you: The beatification is the first… Read more.
The Pope on Condoms … again?
Frankly, Pope Benedict XVI is giving papal infallibility a bad name. In fact his authoritative pronouncements are beginning to smack of the moral relativism he so often condemns. After all, just last year he spoke in such doctrinaire and absolute terms about the abomination of condoms that I felt moved to note that: What most… Read more.
The Pope instructs Africans to risk their lives to save their souls
For decades now, the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church on things like birth control, pre-marital sex and abortion have been falling among thorns in the developed world. As a result, millions of Catholics remain affiliated with the church in name only. And of course millions more have become disaffected in recent years because of… Read more.