Marvelous in her shrewdness and cunning is the Romish Church. She can read what is to be. She bides her time, seeing that the Protestant churches are paying her homage in their acceptance of the false Sabbath, and that they are preparing to enforce it by the very means which she herself employed in by-gone days. Those who reject the light of truth will yet seek the aid of this self-styled infallible power to exalt an institution that originated with her. How readily she will come to the help of Protestants in this work, it is not difficult to conjecture. Who understands better than the papal leaders how to deal with those who are disobedient to the church?
The Roman Church, with all its ramifications throughout the world, forms one vast organization, under the control, and designed to serve the interests, of the papal see. Its millions of communicants, in every country on the globe, are instructed to hold themselves as bound in allegiance to the pope. Whatever their nationality or their government, they are to regard the authority of the church as above all other. Though they may take the oath pledging their loyalty to the State, yet back of this lies the vow of obedience to Rome, absolving them from every pledge inimical to her interests.
Protestants little know what they are doing when they propose to accept the aid of Rome in the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are bent upon the accomplishment of their purpose, Rome is aiming to re-establish her power, to recover her lost supremacy. Let history testify of her artful and persistent efforts to insinuate herself into the affairs of nations; and having gained a foothold, to further her own aims, even at the ruin of princes and people. Romanism openly puts forth the claim that the pope “can pronounce sentences and judgments in contradiction to the right of nations, to the law of God and man.” [THE “DECRETALIA."]
And let it be remembered, it is the boast of Rome that she never changes. The principles of Gregory VII. and Innocent III. are still the principles of the Romish Church. And had she but the power, she would put them in practice with as much vigor now as in past centuries. Let the principle once be established in the United States, that the church may employ or control the power of the State; that religious observances may be enforced by secular laws; in short, that the authority of church and State is to dominate the conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is assured.
God's Word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures, in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage-ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the Word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution."
GC88 579-581
Pope Benedict
“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
If any man have an ear, let him hear.
He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”
Revelation 13:6-10
Pope Benedict XVI's resignation is tied to pedophile priest scandal
I've been a pope watcher for almost 30 years. And while I was as shocked as the rest of the world at his resignation, the first since the Great Schism nearly 600 years ago, given recent events, it made sense.
A month or two ago, the pope's secretary went public with private documents which clearly pointed to his complicity in the cover-up of the pedophile priest scandal. The secretary was jailed for "stealing documents" and was supposed to go to trial, which never came.
The whole incident dropped off the media radar and the public still doesn't know if he's still in jail or the result of the trial, if there was one.
Given the pope's position as supreme authority over billions of Catholics, it is inconceivable that he would not know of a cover-up and subsequent lawsuits, which cost the Catholic Church multi-millions of dollars.
The buck stops on the pope's desk.
Lucille Povero
Seneca Falls
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Attorneys who’ve tried for years to sue the Vatican over sexual abuse claims are seeing a cracked door with Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation.
They think he may be more vulnerable now that he is no longer in power.
A U.S. attorney for the Vatican tells the New York Daily News that the pope does retain legal immunity, in as well as out of office. But sexual-abuse victims and their advocates want to test the law, and they’re pushing for suits to go forth.
“So much of this is unprecedented,” said Pamela Spees, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is leading the charge for the International Criminal Court to investigate whether the Vatican ignored sexual-abuse claims involving its priests, the Daily News reported.
“There’s nothing set in stone about it,” she added.
As far as Catholic officials go, the pope was one of the louder advocates for children, however. He spoke of ridding the church of the “filth” of child abusers, the Daily News said, and also ordered bishops to develop policies and guidelines for keeping abusers from joining the ranks of priests.
Washington Times
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Did Pope Benedict Have a Role in Covering Up Child Rape By Pedophile Priests?
The Catholic Church is a complicated political and legal entity with its own logic of accountability: priests who ordain women, likeFather Roy Bourgeois, are excommunicated without ceremony, and priests who molest children, or aid in covering up the activities of such priests, are kept in the church, if not promoted. Before he was pope, Joseph Ratzinger acted was a top Vatican official, helping to re-locate a priest who sexually abused over 200 deaf boys. It’s impossible to adequately assess his papacy without discussing his role in covering up priests’ sexual abuse of children for decades, and prioritizing the public image of the Church over the well being of thousands of children.
The late atheist Christopher Hitchens was one of Ratzinger's harshest critics, especially when it came to the church's policy of self-policing:
“The accusations, intoned Ratzinger, were only treatable within the church's own exclusive jurisdiction. Any sharing of the evidence with legal authorities or the press was utterly forbidden. Charges were to be investigated "in the most secretive way ... restrained by a perpetual silence ... and everyone ... is to observe the strictest secret which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office … under the penalty of excommunication.”
While acknowledging his role in the 1970s in the handling of priests who had molested children, as well as his conservative stance on many social issues, the National Catholic Reporter calls Benedict XVI a “teaching pope,” a leader more concerned with the internal needs of the Church than taking a stance on political controversy. Ultimately, however, Benedict XVI taught the Church and the wider world about the role of those in power: they must pay close attention to the workings of their organization, and take action when necessary. Benedict XVI’s initial dismissal of the information about these cases may have saved the Church’s image for a brief period, but his logic of accountability made bureaucratic agency a priority over the well beings of Catholic children around the world. No matter his flaws and his strengths, Benedict’s XVI role as an administrator must be remembered, and learned from to make the Catholic Church a safer place for all those who practice its faith.
Hannah Kapp Klote
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Pope Benedict and the pedophilia scandal: A timeline
A chronological look at how the sex abuse scandal has cast a shadow over Benedict XVI's papacy
By The Week Staff | March 26, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI has again been drawn into the sex abuse crisis rocking the Catholic Church. Already accused of assisting the cover-up of abuses in his native Germany, Benedict is facing new charges that — as long ago as the 1960s — he failed to defrock a culpable Milwaukee priest. Here's a timeline of how accusations of negligence have shadowed Benedict's papacy since he was named Pope:
April 2005: When the erstwhile Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is selected to be Pope, he has been heading up the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office that decides whether priests accused of child abuse should be given canonical trials and defrocked.
September 2005: As the Vatican's head of state, the new Pope enjoys immunity against charges of negligence. A Texas civil lawsuit accusing Ratzinger of covering up the abuse of three Houston area boys in the mid-1990s is dropped.
July 2007: Under Pope Benedict's watch, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles pays out $660 million to hundreds of plaintiffs accusing up to 126 priests of clergy sex abuse.
April 2008: During his first papal visit to the U.S., Pope Benedict says he is "deeply ashamed" of the sexual abuse scandal. He pledges not to allow pedophiles to become priests.
November 2009: A "damning" report in Ireland accuses four archbishops of turning a blind eye on abuse, and five bishops of actively covering up clergy sex abuse.
February 3, 2010: Evidence of "systematic" sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Germany begins to emerge. German magazine Der Spiegel reports that "close to 100 priests and members of the laity" are suspected.
February 14: The Pope meets with 24 Irish Bishops to discuss the claims in that country. Pope Benedict reportedly "lambasted" the bishops for failing to deal with sexual abuse in a transparent or effective manner.
March 8: Pope Benedict's brother, Georg Ratzinger, is linked with abuse cases in Germany. Der Spiegel reports sexual abuse at two boarding schools where Ratzinger worked, though the choirmaster is not accused of perpetrating abuses.
March 12: The Pope is dragged into the clergy scandal in his native Germany. As Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1980, Benedict reportedly approved the transfer of Peter Hullerman, a priest accused of molesting boys, to therapy. After being treated, Hullerman returned to pastoral duties and abused more children. He was finally convicted of sexual abuse in 1986.
March 13: The Vatican says the Hullerman allegations are an "aggressive" attempt to smear the Pope's name, and insists Benedict had nothing to do with the decision to transfer the priest to therapy.
March 15: It emerges that Hullerman is still practising as a priest in Germany. He is immediately suspended from his duties.
March 20: Facing calls for his resignation, Pope Benedict writes an open letter apologizing to victims of sexual abuse by the Catholic priesthood. "You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry," he writes in the "most comprehensive statement yet" on the crisis.
March 24: The Pope is accused of failing to defrock Lawrence Murphy, a priest who allegedly molested as many as 200 deaf boys in Wisconsin during the 1960s and 70s. A canonical trial to dismiss the priest in 1996 was halted after Murphy personally wrote to Ratzinger to protest the trial because he was in poor health and had "already repented."
Sources: CBS News, BBC, NYT, Der Spiegel
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Don’t you think it is to blaspheme God when you say you are the church of God’s appointing and then to treat children so horribly?
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MESSAGE FOR YOU FRIEND.wma Size : 3291.521 Kb Type : wma |
Words to the song
God's Little Children
I have a message for you friends
I want you all to hear
A message from the throne of God
'Bout something He holds dear
It is His little children
Who are scattered far and wide
He says to you remember
There's an angel by their side.
Chorus
And God says, Woe to any man
Who offends these little ones
It would be better for that man
If he had not been born
A stone was hung about his neck
And in the sea was tossed
Take warning you who do such things
You surely will be lost.
God says, "love my little children
I made them every one
Red and yellow, black and white
To run beneath the sun
I'm watching o're them all the day
And through the long dark night
Mother, Father, friend of mine
Make sure you lead them right."
Remember now each one of you
The words of this song hear
You are one of God's children
And He loves you each one dear
But from your evil deeds you must
Repent and on Him call
He's promised to forgive and cleanse
And save you from your fall.