NationStates

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/06/27/vatican.pope.belgium.raid/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

(CNN) -- A raid at the headquarters of the Catholic Church in Belgium by police investigating child abuse was "deplorable," Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday.
The pope expressed his "closeness and solidarity in this moment of sadness, in which, with certain surprising and deplorable methods, the searches were carried out" in a letter to the head of the Belgian Bishops Conference, Andre Joseph Leonard.
Police were searching for documents related to allegations of child abuse, a spokesman for the Brussels prosecutor said Thursday...


(Full story at above link.)

So apparently the Pope, who has and whose institution has been crawling with and then protecting the identities of pedos and child rapists, now has his panties in a twist over the fact that the church is not above the law nor immune to justice. The Belgian cops raided that church HQ like any common entity that was subject to a raid. And of course they had no right to search and raid a precious Roman Christist institution, considering that:

The article wrote:The Catholic Church faces allegations of child abuse by clergy across at least half a dozen countries, including the pope's native Germany, as well as Belgium, Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands and the United States.

He both downplays and disavows child abuse conducted by members of his institution, and the Vatican cites "the need to repair and confront such acts in conformity with the law and teachings of the Gospel.", in other words hiding it, dousing the offenders in holy water, re-unleashing them upon the people, and then forgetting about it. Remember the insanely numerous child abuse cases in Ireland where the names of the offenders were withheld? Or the guy on a hunger strike until that one priest is brought to justice? Or the aforementioned clergyman having his fence lined with the shoes of his victims? It needs to stop, and this "deplorable" raid is a huge step forward.

If he didn't have power over hundreds of millions, his attitude would be hilarious.

We need to confront such acts in conformity with the law, as in, search warrants, and raids.

If the Gospel has a problem with that, then it's the Gospel's problem.

This is an achievement, but I for one am not happy until a search warrant for the Popes private quarters is used.

Mikedor wrote:If he didn't have power over hundreds of millions, his attitude would be hilarious.

To paraphrase George Carlin slightly, he has as much authority as the rest of us- just more people believe in his authority.

Helertia wrote:This is an achievement, but I for one am not happy until a search warrant for the Popes private quarters is used.

I don't think anyone should get near this Pope's "private quarters", tbh,

Insulting. How they can violate Church ground like this starts to make me wonder about modern society.

Mikedor wrote:If he didn't have power over hundreds of millions, his attitude would be hilarious.

Its true, thank goodness that the Catholic isn't the only Christian type church, otherwise its followers would number 1 Billion. Imagine that, 1 Billion people following him.

Urcea wrote:Insulting. How they can violate Church ground like this starts to make me wonder about modern society.

How the Church can violate young children like that makes me wonder about modern society as well. The Church is not immune to the law that in many countries it helped create, and the sooner it realises that, the better.

Urcea wrote:Insulting. How they can violate Church ground like this starts to make me wonder about modern society.

So the Church is above the law?

Helertia wrote:

Urcea wrote:Insulting. How they can violate Church ground like this starts to make me wonder about modern society.

So the Church is above the law?

Yes.

The Matthew Islands wrote:

Mikedor wrote:If he didn't have power over hundreds of millions, his attitude would be hilarious.

Its true, thank goodness that the Catholic isn't the only Christian type church, otherwise its followers would number 1 Billion. Imagine that, 1 Billion people following him.

"Church membership in 2007 was 1.147 billion people."

Theres two billion Christians.

Lackadaisical2 wrote:

The Matthew Islands wrote:

Mikedor wrote:If he didn't have power over hundreds of millions, his attitude would be hilarious.

Its true, thank goodness that the Catholic isn't the only Christian type church, otherwise its followers would number 1 Billion. Imagine that, 1 Billion people following him.

"Church membership in 2007 was 1.147 billion people."

Theres two billion Christians.

Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure

Urcea wrote:Insulting. How they can violate Church ground like this starts to make me wonder about modern society.

Stop fucking little kids and people wouldn't be so upset at the church.

I'm just sad some rioters didn't get there first and torch the place, burning it and the priests to the ground.

That would brighten my day like nothing else.

Mikedor wrote:If he didn't have power over hundreds of millions, his attitude would be hilarious.

This^^

Even still....that's very rude to go in like that...but it is Europe, and what with all the secularism...
Still, I find it sad. Ah, well as long as the whole pedophillia thing blows over I don't really care...>.>

The Matthew Islands wrote:

Mikedor wrote:If he didn't have power over hundreds of millions, his attitude would be hilarious.

Its true, thank goodness that the Catholic isn't the only Christian type church, otherwise its followers would number 1 Billion. Imagine that, 1 Billion people following him.

Yeah, imagine that, Ted. One billion people following the Pope. Yeah that'd be just grand.

A plate of Irish soda bread (hint hint hint) to anyone and everyone who gets that reference. (Also hint: Not an actual line from the show, but one I could imagine being spoken.)

This is just the kind of brutality the civilized world has come to expect from the Belgians. Imagine a country where people get arrested because they are suspected of committing a crime - it boggles the mind.

I think the current Pope is disgusting, quite frankly. He obviously has no empathy towards abuse victims, and only wants to cover his and his cronies' asses. I applaud the Belgian police for sticking to the law, rather than getting caught up in the Catholic Church bit of it.

Wikipedia and Universe wrote:

The Matthew Islands wrote:

Mikedor wrote:If he didn't have power over hundreds of millions, his attitude would be hilarious.

Its true, thank goodness that the Catholic isn't the only Christian type church, otherwise its followers would number 1 Billion. Imagine that, 1 Billion people following him.

Yeah, imagine that, Ted. One billion people following the Pope. Yeah that'd be just grand.

A plate of Irish soda bread (hint hint hint) to anyone and everyone who gets that reference. (Also hint: Not an actual line from the show, but one I could imagine being spoken.)

Holy shit a Father Ted reference! (For those of you who don't know it was an Irish comedy from around the 90's about priests).

Leave the church alone, the Vatican is the greatest force against the Muslims.

American MapleStory wrote:Leave the church alone, the Vatican is the greatest force against the Muslims.

And they're also a great force against healthy trauma-free childhoods.

Helertia wrote:

Urcea wrote:Insulting. How they can violate Church ground like this starts to make me wonder about modern society.

So the Church is above the law?

Is it? No. Should it be? Yes.

Dakini wrote:

American MapleStory wrote:Leave the church alone, the Vatican is the greatest force against the Muslims.

And they're also a great force against healthy trauma-free childhoods.

Which is the smaller price to pay? -__-