The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! “Father, the atheists?” Even the atheists. Everyone!…We must meet one another doing good. “But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!” But do good: we will meet one another there.Pope Francis, proclaiming that even non-believers will be redeemed by Christ, as long as they “do good” (not all Christians subscribe to this theory). source
The new pope is doing some redecorating. I quite approve. I may not agree with him, or the Church, on many points, but I do like the fundamental ideas that we should be humble and help those in need. This may not go directly towards those in need, but it does seem to symbolize the direction the church should go.
That Pope Francis is less ostentatious than his predecessor, and indeed less so than nearly a century of Catholic popes is hard to argue — earlier today it was announced that he’ll also eschew the traditional, opulent papal living-quarters for a far more modest two-room suite.
Because the media admiration from his North Korean basketball diplomacy trip was too much of a gift, first-class attention whore Dennis Rodman has arrived at The Vatican just in time for the election of a new pope. CHECK IT OUT.
AMERICA’S FINEST DIPLOMAT.
It is deplorable that, as we draw closer to the time of the beginning of the conclave… there be a widespread distribution of often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories that cause serious damage to persons and institutions.A statement from the Vatican • Decrying reports in the Italian media, in advance of the meeting of the conclave to select a new Pope. Of particular irritation to the Vatican — an unsourced story in La Repubblica, Italy’s largest-circulation daily newspaper, regarding a special report by three Cardinals, conducted in the aftermath of the theft and leaking of the Pope’s personal papers by his butler. It suggests that the special report uncovered myriad scandals relating to sex, money, and the management of the Vatican’s bank, but CNN’s Senior Vatican Analyst John Allen finds the idea this hastened Benedict’s departure unlikely: “For the most part, one has to take the pope at his word: He’s stepping aside because he’s old and tired, not because of any particular crisis.” source
Paolo Gabriele, the former butler of Pope Benedict XVI who was sentenced to 18 months in prison for leaking his boss’ private documents, has reason to be happy today — he’s the beneficiary of a papal pardon. Pope Benedict visited him in prison today, to communicate the pardon in person. From a Vatican statement: “This constitutes a paternal gesture toward a person with whom the Pope shared a relationship of daily familiarity for many years.” Gabriele was reportedly released immediately, and has returned home. source
»Chris@SFB says: We received a comment on this post we wanted to be sure to address, regarding our use of the phrase “the Catholic Church’s woeful history” as relates to child sex predation. The commenter argues that the phrase is an unfair generalization — that it’s the clergy that suffers with these “issues,” not the Church, and that it’s improper to call it a “woeful history” because this wasn’t a problem that existed before Vatican II. On the first point, this seems both a distinction without a difference, as well as factually incomplete. In truth, child sex abuse committed by members of the Catholic clergy was reliably facilitated by Church officials and higher-ups, who aided in moving violators to different parishes and concealing their heinous crimes. As to the post-conciliar point, I’d only say that I’m unaware of any provable assertion that molestation and sex abuse only became issues for the Church after Vatican II, but even were that true, the past fifty years on their own rise to the level of a “woeful history,” temporally and semantically.
Vatican butler saga continues: After months of speculation about the fate of the the butler who allegedly leaked Pope Benedict XVI’s documents to the media, Paolo Gabriele (front) has been charged with ”aggravated theft,” along with an accomplice, analyst and programmer Claudio Sciarpelletti. Gabriele spent 53 days in a Vatican jail, then time under house arrest, before being charged. (photo by EPA)
May the risen Christ grant hope to the Middle East and enable all the ethnic, cultural and religious groups in that region to work together to advance the common good and respect for human rights. Particularly in Syria, may there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community.Pope Benedict XVI • Speaking during his Easter Sunday mass at the Vatican, specifically bringing up the Syrian conflict. The pope’s words may not be proving effective in Syria, after government officials said they would not lay down their weapons without written guarantees rebel groups would do the same.
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May the light of Christmas shine forth anew in the Land where Jesus was born, and inspire Israelis and Palestinians to strive for a just and peaceful co-existence.Pope Benedict XVI • Expressing hope for the Israel-Palestinian conflict’s resolution during his Christmas Day mass. He suggested the same for Somalia, Darfur and the Ivory Coast. Merry Christmas, bro. You’ve had as tough a year as any of us have had, what with all those scandals you’ve had to deal with lately. source (via • follow)
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