If I can further dissect a quote Outraged brought up earlier in this thread. The quote from Dionne was: “He seemed determined to confess the church’s great sin in the sexual abuse scandal, and he asked again and again for forgiveness. He took the extra step Thursday of meeting with a group of victims of abuse.  It was a good and necessary act of penance.”

I for one can not imagine how mentally damaged this group of victims is following first the physical crimes but now what I’m sure was a forced and degrading meet and greet with the man who hid the truth of their injuries. Notice that Benny never confessed his own sin. That would mean the poop is fallible and merely human but we all knew that except perhaps for E.J.  Benny wasn’t the first to hide the sins of the Church but he was perhaps the first to be outed while still breathing. He should have been arrested as soon as his plane landed and received his forgiveness behind bars. Where is Gitmo when we need it?

Thank ‘god’ the babbling, blathering blitz by the nattering news nabobs on the visit of the pope is over, (except for a day or two of telling us what they told us during his visit).
And isn’t it interesting that our president holds the pope in high regard because ‘he’s so straightforward’.
I imagine this means that as a last Bush boondoggle, later this year, Bush will visit the Vatican so the two of them can compare notes, and admire each other.
If the press really wants to get some newsworthy coverage, they should sneak a camera into the Sacristy in the Vatican dungeon where the vast Catholic porn collection is stored, and film the pope and the president, side-by-side on the satin and ermine lounges, pulling their putzes as they review some ancient XXX tomes.

While I understand that the pope’s words seem frightening to some religious people and downright deceptive to nonreligious people, his words simply reflect the idea that is contradictory to the concept of “cafeteria” catholic/christian. To be a christian “completely” and to follow all of the teachings and not pick and choose what’s right for you seems to be what he is advocating. I myself was raised by parents who were in every way (spiritually, politically, etc) Christian and I can’t say I have followed in their footsteps, but rather I have chosen to be “Christian” in some aspects and not in others. Yet, I am not offended by the pope’s message to be steadfastly religious, not just when it is convenient. In all honesty it is a message that many, including myself, would benefit from hearing.

Before we frivolously enter another pre-emptive war, perhaps we should contact the pope to get his opinion on ‘Who Would Jesus Kill’?

The pope’s comments show the extent to which “THE CHURCH” will go to MAINTAIN POWER over individuals.  Cults use this tactic all the time.  I give special attention to the fact that he says, “Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel.” AND that “Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted,”.

Let’s see where this would take a person.  “Their faith” here, is the Catholic religion not “belief in God”.  If it were the belief in God, obviously IT COULD be treated as a private matter.  So when the pope says “their faith” he is using the old bait and switch technique or a simple play on words.  The Catholic church is not alone in this tactic.

He states; only when “their faith” permeates EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR LIVES then it will be “transforming”.  Boy, I’ll bet.  The reality here is, according to the pope, only when “THE CATHOLIC RELIGION” permeates every aspect of YOUR life, it is ONLY THEN that “Christians” read Catholics, become TRULY OPEN to the transforming power of the “Gospel”.  (Gospel here ALSO means the Catholic religion and is another bait and switch tactic.) You don’t think the pope is endorsing anything else do you?  All Christian religions endorse “the Gospel”.  And all religions claim to have a direct feed to God to acquire the accurate INTERPRETATION of “the Gospel”. But in this instance, it’s the Catholic religion.

The pope admonishes that, one cannot practice “their faith” in private, (remember, that “MUST BE” “resisted") so where would one go if “one’s faith” was the Catholic faith then.  Why, to “the church” of course.

In effect, the pope is saying let “THE CHURCH” permeate EVERY ASPECT your life because ONLY THEN you will be TRULY OPEN to what THE CHURCH wants to do with your life!  And you must RESIST having “your faith in God” in private. Come to us, because if you don’t, how will we be able to carry out OUR agenda?  Of course he rosy’d that up with all sorts of niceties such as; love, caring, and dare I say.. affection?  (Sure..that’s it, all child molesters “have affection for the child")

I take exception to the pope coming at a time when America is in turmoil.  Cults use this same tactic as do unscrupulous “admirers”.  The ol’ catch them on the rebound trick.  Befriend them, make them think they can trust you.  Odds are.. right now they probably need a friend.  Someone who knows “what they should do”.  Someone to “direct them”.  The pandering is so blatant that “the church” who has COVERED UP THEIR CRIMES OF PEDOPHILIA FOR DECADES AND PROTECTED THE PERPETRATORS, is so hard up they figured they’d make “some sort” of apology!  A tad insincere, to state the obvious.

Your comment EJ: “He seemed determined to confess the church’s great sin in the sexual abuse scandal, and he asked again and again for forgiveness. He took the extra step Thursday of meeting with a group of victims of abuse.  It was a good and necessary act of penance.”

>Now you’re pandering EJ.  Your choice of words is so… how can I say it.... spiritually directed...?  “determined”, “confess”, “great sin”, “again and again for forgiveness”, “extra step”, “a good and necessary”, and of course the almighty..., “act of penance”.

Everyone of these is a trigger word meant to “touch the heart” of “believers” everywhere.  Disgusting. This is how you depict the organizational head of the group that committed these atrocities, who then protected the perpetrators and covered up the crimes for decades?! Who denied, lied and paid off the families of the victims. THESE WERE CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN.  In some states here in America you can get the death sentence for them. Shameful. Blatant and Shameful.

“Great sin?"...."the church’s great sin?!”.... You make it sound just shy of angelic.  I can almost hear the angels singing. That’s sick.

Quote: “Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted,” he told the country’s Catholic bishops Wednesday. “Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives...”

This is true - but does it apply to a religious and philosophical message - or to his already known Neocon agenda?

You’ve got two thousand years of Catholicism, year two being worse than year one, year two hundred worse than one hundred and two thousand worse than one thousand.

People are really bad.  You look at two thousand years of social deterioration in spite of two thousand years of moral and spiritual education by THE CHURCH and what does it tell you? 

John Paul’s dead, Benedict soon to follow.  They’ll never see the worst.  But they can both go to their graves thinking to themselves as the shadow of the lid crosses their eyes, at least I got to ride in the Popemobil. 

Let’s try something new, like put churches out of business and teach kids not to behave like their parents or their leaders.

As a lifelong Roman Catholic and as an American, I find a lot things about Benedict XVI discomforting, as I did about his predecessor, John Paul II. That having been said, I agree with him on many things, including his stand against the Iraq war and occupation, his opposition to the death penalty, and his belief that evolution is not conflict with church teaching.  I guess I’m what you might call a “cafeteria” Catholic. Expat, if you have ever had any serious discussions with Catholics about their beliefs, which I doubt due to your obviously intense hatred of the Catholic church and, indeed, all Christian faiths, you would see that the modern day Catholic church is not a cult. Cult members never question their leaders. I would venture to say that 99% of today’s practicing Catholics often question their leaders and certain aspects of church teaching.  We stay because our belief in the core teachings of our church are strong, i.e. our belief that the eucharist is the body and blood of Christ. 

I would venture to say that most of Truthdig’s readers consider ourselves to be tolerant people.  Yet I know a lot of liberals (and I’m proud to call myself a liberal) who are extremely intolerant of organized religion in general, and the Catholic church in particular, yet they will be first ones to accuse Christians of being intolerant.  Physicians, heal thyselves.

Expat,

Your excellent comment reviews the church’s beginnings as an expressly political force.

Although catholicism’s power is in decline at the moment, one cannot deny it’s nearly unbridled success spanning more than a millennium. Although I sympathize with your remarks, those very criticisms may validate the Darwinian advantage of the church, and religion in general. I have suspected for some time that Richard Dawkins may be wrong in his assertion that religion has little evolutionary value. Considered primitive and fanatical by Roman society, the christians nonetheless eventually prevailed because persecution only increased their sense of group identity and tribal cohesion. Historically, one could make a loose comparison between early christianity’s relationship to the then-dominant Roman culture, and Islam to our current one. If Dawkins is wrong and religion turns out to be a primary social evolutionary force, we should all be very concerned about a new dark age…