Cardinal Blames Homosexuality Not Celibacy For Paedo Crisis

[taxexile]

Top cardinal, Tarcisio Bertone, blames paedophile crisis on homosexuals



Top cardinal, Tarcisio Bertone, blames paedophile crisis on homosexuals

(Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone made the comments in Chile where he is on an official visit

Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent, and Richard Owen, Rome. the times.

The Pope’s right-hand man has blamed homosexuals for the clerical abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, while denying any connection between paedophilia and priestly celibacy.

Speaking on a visit to Chile, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, said: “Many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relationship between celibacy and paedophilia. But many others have demonstrated, I have been told recently, that there is a relationship between homosexuality and paedophilia. That is true. That is the problem.”

His remarks drew a furious reaction from gay spokesmen yesterday. “There is no relationship between paedophilia and homosexuality,” said Rolando Jiménez, the head of the Movement for the Integration and Freedom of Homosexuals in Chile.

“The Catholic Church hierarchy will at some point have to apologise for this perversion, for the sinister attitude of this Vatican gentleman. Neither Bertone nor the Vatican has the moral authority to give lessons on sexuality.”

Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner and spokesman for the Protest the Pope campaign, said that Cardinal Bertone “has, in effect, blamed gay priests for the paedophile scandal”.

He described the Cardinal as “a blatant distorter of the truth and an outrageous homophobe . . . His vile smears against gay people bring shame and dishonour to the Church. The Vatican is trying to deflect attention from the sex crimes of Catholic clergy by blaming gay people.”
Cardinal Bertone’s remarks were made after another Catholic prelate was reported to have alluded to a Zionist conspiracy behind the abuse allegations.

Giacomo Babini, the retired Bishop of Grosseto in Italy, was quoted by an Italian Catholic website as complaining about a Zionist attack on the Church. In an interview he was said to have described Jews as the “natural enemies” of Catholicism. “Deep down, historically speaking, the Jews are deicides [God-killers],” he said.

Mgr Babini went on to argue that Hitler had exploited German anger over the “excesses” of Jews, who in the 1930s had “throttled” the German economy. Mgr Babini, 81, denied making such a statement, though the website stands by its story.

As the storm over leading churchmen’s role in covering up sex abuse gathered strength, the house where Pope Benedict XVI was born in the German town of Marktl am Inn was daubed overnight with the message “F*** yourselves” painted in foot-high blue letters.

In Malta, where the Pope will arrive this weekend for a visit, billboards publicising his trip were defaced with images related to sexual abuse.

The Vatican has tried to distance the Pope from the scandals but fresh allegations in Germany have brought them closer to his doorstep. An independent report commissioned by the Catholic Church in Bavaria said that more than 100 pupils had been “sadistically tormented and also sexually abused” at the Ettal monastery boarding school over several decades until 1990.

Pope Benedict led the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, where the Ettal monastery is situated, between 1977 and 1982. Fifteen monks and three lay teachers are accused in the document, which was released yesterday with all names blacked out to protect the identities of alleged victims and perpetrators.

The paedophile scandals threaten to overshadow Pope Benedict’s trip to Malta this weekend. He is due to visit Cyprus, Portugal and Britain this year.

The Vatican has tried to shrug off threats made in Britain to have the Pope arrested for crimes against humanity when he arrives in September. Geoffrey Robertson, a barrister, and Mark Stephens, a solicitor, are considering whether they could ask the Crown Prosecution Service to initiate criminal proceedings against the Pope, start their own civil action or refer him to the International Criminal Court. They question whether the Holy See is a sovereign state, as it claims, and whether the Pope has diplomatic immunity.

Father Federico Lombardi, the Pope’s chief spokesman, described the idea as original and bizarre. He said that it was clearly aimed at public opinion, but “I think they should look for something more serious and concrete before we can respond to it”.

[BobR]

Anyone who would take a job which demands celibacy probably has pre-existing emotional and sexual problems. It seems like common sense that a man who has a good and healthy sex life with adult women (or even adult men) is going to be much less likely a threat to children.

[Nawty]

So he is saying all priests are pooves.....

[natalie8]

Sounds so Catholic. :rolling eyes:

[Thetyim]

I wouldn't let the Pope stay at my guesthouse

[Lambik]

"So he is saying all priests are pooves....."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Consistent inference.

[StrontiumDog]

Now they are "clarifying" his comments LOL

As a psychologist, I'm completely unaware of any research that exists to back up this retards claims. Unsurprising that a god botherer would resort to such nasty tactics....trying to move the goal posts yet again, but they keep on scoring own goals. Hilarious and unusually enjoyable to watch these imbeciles squirm.

BBC News - Vatican 'clarifies' cardinal's homosexuality abuse link

Vatican 'clarifies' cardinal's homosexuality abuse link


The Vatican has sought to "clarify" remarks made by a senior cardinal, who linked homosexuality with paedophilia in the abuse scandal facing the Church.
It provided "data" to support the claim, but also said it was not for the Church authorities to make assertions of a "psychological or medical nature".
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said it was homosexuality - not clerical celibacy - which lay behind the abuse of children.

Earlier, France condemned the cardinal for making "an unacceptable linkage".
Earlier this month, Pope Benedict's personal preacher apologised for having compared criticism of the Roman Catholic Church over abuse allegations to "the collective violence suffered by the Jews".

In a sermon, Father Raniero Cantalamessa likened allegations that the Vatican had systematically hushed up cases of sexual abuse of children by priests to the "most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism", with the use of stereotypes and the spreading of collective guilt.
The Vatican said his remarks did not represent its official view.

'Confession of weakness'

Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, was attempting to defuse the scandals currently afflicting the Church during a visit to Chile on Monday, when he denied that celibacy was to blame.

"Many psychologists, many psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relationship between celibacy and paedophilia but many others have demonstrated, I was told recently, that there is a relationship between homosexuality and paedophilia," he said.

The truth is that Bertone is clumsily trying to shift attention to homosexuality and away from the focus on new crimes against children that emerge every day
Aurelio Mancuso, former head of Italian gay rights association Arcigay

"That is true. I have the documents of the psychologists. That is the problem."
On Tuesday, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi questioned the cardinal's decision to discuss the matter, but also detailed its "statistical data" on the abuse of minors by priests.

"Church authorities do not consider it their responsibility to make general statements of a specifically physiological or medical character, which is why they naturally refer back to experts' study and ongoing research on the subject," he said.
According to the satistical data collected by the Congregation for the Doctrine the Faith, "about 10% of cases were paedophilia in the strict sense, while 90% were cases of ephebophilia [i.e towards adolescents]", he added. "Of these approximately 60% referred to individuals of the same sex and 30% of heterosexual character."
Fr Lombardi told the AFP news agency that the statement was aimed at "clarifying" Cardinal Bertone's remarks and should not be seen as the Holy See "distancing" itself from them.

Earlier, France - where an estimated 60% of the population are Catholic - became the first country to criticise the cardinal.

"This is an unacceptable linkage and we condemn this," foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters in Paris. "France is firmly engaged in the struggle against discrimination and prejudice linked to sexual orientation and gender identity."

In Italy, gay rights activist Aurelio Mancuso accused the cardinal of "clumsily trying to shift attention to homosexuality and away from the focus on new crimes against children that emerge every day".

Commentators in the Italian press also criticised the remarks.

In Corriere della Sera, Piero Ostellino said the Pope should be "protected" from the "imprudent remarks of some high prelates", while La Repubblica's Francesco Merlo said the "Church is hurting itself, not homosexuals".

The attempt to link homosexuality with paedophilia was a "dramatic confession of weakness [betraying] the confused state in which the Catholic Church now finds itself," Mr Merlo added.

[PaddyGreen]

so thats all clear them

[billy the kid]

Oh lordy Lord.

[aras]

priests are homosexuals, period lol

[billy the kid]

Not so fast buddy. I believe the cardinal is talkin bollox. But let's wait and see . This is not the end of this discussion .
It's an odd one indeed. They're not homosexual ,,,,they're not hetersexual ,,,they're not celibate ,, so what are they ?

[Lambik]