“An Everyday Story Of R.C. Pedophiles & Cover-Ups”

The Polemicist

by Michael House

LONDON, England—(Weekly Hubris)—4/5/10—Joseph Ratzinger goes under several aliases. He is called the “Pope,” the “Supreme Pontiff,” the “Holy Father.” A member of the Hitler Youth as a boy, he was the ideal candidate for the office he held before God chose him to be His Vicar on Earth: head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

His job was to discipline the Catholic clergy.

Ratzinger is said to be a reluctant ‘Pope.’ He is reported as having once revealed, “I prayed to God, ‘Please don’t do this to me’.” No doubt, many terrified, desperate children being sodomized by the ‘Christian’ priests under his charge have offered up similar prayers. If he doesn’t want to be Pope, the solution seems very simple.

Here is a brief summary of half a century (and no doubt hundreds of years before that) of secrecy and suppression of the truth—at least since 1074, when ‘Pope’ Gregory VII decreed that anyone to be ordained must first pledge celibacy.

—1962:  the Vatican wrote to every bishop enjoining the strictest secrecy in investigating sexual abuse allegations.

—1975: ‘Cardinal’ Sean Brady, leader of the Roman church in Ireland, investigated two cases of abuse by a ‘Father’ Brendan Smyth, Ireland’s most notorious pedophile priest.  The teenagers (one 14) involved were sworn to secrecy (and probably told they would go to Hell if they broke the oath.) Smyth continued to abuse children for nearly 20 years, until he was arrested in 1991 and fled across the border to the Republic. In 1997, he pleaded guilty to 74 charges of abusing children over 35 years.

—1980: ‘Cardinal’ Joseph Ratzinger chaired a meeting to discuss a known pedophile priest, ‘Father’ Peter Hullerman. The priest was given therapy and transferred to another parish. He was convicted of abuse in 1986. He was still an active priest until last month, when he was suspended for breaking a promise not to have contact with children.

—1996: Ratzinger was asked by the ‘Archbishop of Wisconsin’ to consent to the defrocking of a priest, ‘Father’ Lawrence C. Murphy, who had been accused of molesting up to 200 children between 1950 and 1974. Murphy appealed to Ratzinger for mercy and the inquiry was closed.

—2001: Ratzinger signed a document stating that child abuse cases should be dealt with behind closed doors in ‘canonical courts.’ He blames secularism and liberals within the church for these outbreaks of ‘sinfulness.’

—2002: Ratzinger’s predecessor, John Paul II, promotes ‘Cardinal’ Bernard Law after he resigned as ‘Bishop of Boston’ over the cover-up of sexual abuse by over one thousand (I,000) priests. Ratzinger is fast-tracking J P II for ‘sainthood.’

—2010: A group of victims appear on Italian TV claiming that two dozen priests, including the ‘Bishop’ of Verona, abused them over four decades at a school for the deaf in Verona. They described sodomy, masturbation and fondling. The current  ‘Bishop’ of Verona accused the former students of “hallucinating.” The allegations first surfaced last summer. No action was taken until last month.

—A conservative Catholic order, the ‘the Legionnaries of Christ’ was founded in 1941. Its founder was ‘Father’ Marcial Maciel Degollado of Mexico. The Legion shunned the media, while Maciel ordered his followers to take vows never to criticize him or any superior. He showered gifts on reactionary cardinals and bishops—money, fine wines, even a new car—to secure support for his order in the Catholic establishment. His mission was to ‘save the church from a corrupted world.’ Rich supporters enabled the Legion to amass assets of $650 million.

Maciel was found to be living a double life, molesting child seminarians for 40 years and fathering a daughter by a long-term mistress. ‘Pope’ John Paul II refused to investigate the allegations, first made in 1997 by former members of the Legion. JP said he ‘discerned’ Maciel’s innocence. In 2006, Maciel was finally ordered to retire to a life of “prayer and penitence.”

—The Church was quick to respond to evidence of a global, systematic cover-up of child abuse by Catholic priests. One of Ratzinger’s closest aides, ‘Cardinal’ Jose Martins, said, “You don’t wash your dirty laundry in public.” He blamed the media for the controversy and told the world that there was a “well-organized” conspiracy against the Church.

— ‘Bishop’ Ribaldi of Acerra said that the revelations marked the start of a war “between Satan and God.” (Oddly, he appears to be on the side of Satan.) One of the henchmen of frequenter-of-minors, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s foreign minister Franco Fratini, spoke of “scandalous and disgraceful” attacks on the Holy Father.

—One Christian Democrat politician said “For years, a Masonic-secularist offensive against Catholics has been under way.”

So, to a faith that: would rather let you die in childbirth than have an abortion; would rather let people in Africa die of AIDS than use a condom; condemns people to abject poverty rather than allowing them to plan their families; is responsible for thousands of deaths every year, we add: a faith that, although it hates gays, tolerates and covers up pedophilia in its priesthood.  . . .and when the truth comes out, the church screams conspiracy.

As I said two weeks ago, religion is poison.

John Humphrys is rather a hero of mine. Coming from a poor Welsh family and leaving school at 15, he became a reporter, foreign correspondent, quiz-master, pure food and ‘correct English’ campaigner, newsreader on radio and television and chief inquisitor of the political class. He presents the “Today” program on British radio several times a week.  Politicians frequently refuse to be interviewed by him. He can turn a lying pol (i.e. most of them) inside out in minutes.

The great man’s son married a Greek woman and now lives in Athens. A few years ago, on a walking tour of the Argolid, Humphrys saw a derelict cottage overlooking the sea. He loved the view and decided to buy the cottage and build a modern villa on the property. He also bought the olive trees on the land (or so he thought). His and his son’s encounters with Greek bureaucrats (who lead the world), Greek builders, engineers, fishermen, entrepreneurs (George W. Bush: “The trouble with the French, they have no word for entrepreneur”—fact), cats, wildlife and the Orthodox Church are hilariously described in Blue Skies and Black Olives—A Survivor’s Tale of Housebuilding and Peacock Chasing in Greece.  I recommend it very highly.

There—I’ve said something positive for once! You didn’t think I could, did you?

A much-loved British sports commentator died last week. His name was Harry Carpenter and he was a national institution in Britain. His speciality was boxing, and he was a friend and an early supporter of Muhammed Ali, Cassius Clay as he then was.

His other speciality was the faux pas. A total innocent, he would say things that anyone else would realize could not possibly be said on the air.

My personal favorite comes from the annual “Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race,” a venerable event, dating from 1829, involving my country’s two ancient universities. Every spring, two crews of eight, each captained by a ‘President,’ battle it out over 4 ½ miles of the River Thames. In 1977, after the race was over, Harry came out with the immortal observation:

“Ah, isn’t that nice—the wife of the Cambridge President is kissing the cox of the Oxford crew.”

We shall not look upon his like again.