A collection of brief but interesting articles on a great variety of subjects relating to the Roman Catholic Church

 

 

How the Roman Catholic Church came to boast a billion members, and what that proves : "How can a billion people be wrong?"         "From island to island, small and large, throughout the Caribbean,  wherever he went, Columbus reported that he planted a cross, "making the required declarations, " and claiming ownership of the land for his royal patrons back in Spain.  Despite the fact that Columbus noted in his own journal of the voyage that "the people of these lands do not understand me nor I them," it seems to have been of particular satisfaction to him that never once did any of the onlooking Arawak-speaking islanders object to his repeated proclamations in Spanish that he was taking control of their lands away from them.  Ludicrous though this scene may appear to us in retrospect, at the time it was a deadly serious ritual similar in ways equally ludicrous and deadly to the other famous ritual the Spanish bestowed upon the non-Spanish-speaking people of the Americas, the requerimiento ( a sort of "Miranda Rights Statement" in reverse, made by the criminal to their victims). The punishment for not recognizing "the One True Faith" :         "They built a long gibbet, low enough for the toes to touch the ground and prevent strangling, and hanged thirteen [natives] at a time in honor of Christ Our Saviour and the twelve Apostles.  When the Indians were thus still alive and hanging, the Spaniards tested their strength and their blades against them, ripping chests open with one blow and exposing entrails, and there were those who did worse.  Then, straw was wrapped around their torn bodies and they were burned alive."          Thank God the use of force to make or keep converts is no longer allowed in the modern world! Or is it? When I tried to inform Marc Aupiais, who seems to be a semi-official media representative of the Catholic church in South Africa, of the realities of Roman Catholicism, he not only eliminated my posting from his blog - which Catholics often do, because of their inability to respond to my posts - but he sent me this threatening email, with the subject "Warning" : "If you have no fear of South African Law: maybe continue your grafitti: but under the law of the publishing area of this online source: you are, or could be violating my Country's constitution: whenever you spread hate against Catholicism: I can have you extradited, to stand trail: or have your church tried locally."        to which I can only respond as the great philosopher Plato did so long ago: "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy is when adults are afraid of the light."         or as Jesus said several centuries later: (Evil) " people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God." {John 3:19 – 21}         Following Columbus, each time the Spanish encountered a native individual or group in the course of their travels, it was a "requirement" that they read to the Indians a statement informing them of the truth of Christianity and the necessity to swear immediate allegiance to the Pope and to the Spanish crown.  After this, if the Indians refused or even delayed in their acceptance (or, more likely, their understanding) of the requerimiento, the statement continued:  ) The Requerimiento,           "We certify to you that, with the help of God, we shall powerfully enter into your country and shall make war against you in all ways and manners that we can, and shall subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and of Their Highnesses. We shall take you and your wives and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as Their Highnesses may command. And we shall take your goods, and shall do you all the mischief and damage that we can, as to vassals who do not obey and refuse to receive their lord and resist and contradict him."        [ another version read: "If you do not do this, however, or resort maliciously to delay, we warn you that, with the aid of God, we will enter your land against you with force and will make war in every place and by every means we can and are able, and we will then subject you to the yoke and authority of the Church and Their Highnesses. We will take you and your wives and children and make them slaves, and as such we will sell them, and will dispose of you and them as Their Highnesses order. And we will take your property and will do to you all the harm and evil we can, as is done to vassals who will not obey their lord or who do not wish to accept him, or who resist and defy him. We avow that the deaths and harm which you will receive thereby will be your own blame, and not that of Their Highnesses, nor ours, nor of the gentlemen who come with us . . ." See much more about this Roman Catholic approach to "saving souls" at www.ColumbusNoHero.Org (the Catholic Church sent conquerors, not converters to the "new World", not to win souls, but to win silver and gold. See also how the Catholic Church had its own holocaust going during the Nazi holocaust, offering non-Catholics the choise of "the true faith" or death : JesusWouldBeFurious.Org/CroatianHolocaust.html. See also how the Catholic Church kept its members from straying from the true faith for centuries through the use of torture, execution and the threat of all kinds of fearsome punishments : JesusWouldBeFurious.Org/Catholic/PopesvsChrist-1.html         "Germany's Roman Catholic Church has said it will pay almost $5m in compensation for its role in Nazi-era forced labour schemes. The church has admitted that during World War II up to 1,500 people were forced to work for the church." [ from http://www.propeller.com/viewstory/2008/04/09/roman-catholic-church-admits-aiding-nazis-in-ww2/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F2%2Fhi%2Feurope%2F7337748.stm&frame=true ]

Bones reveal chubby monks aplenty by Martin Wainwright England's Guardian Newspaper  http://ads.guardian.co.uk/ - July 15, 2004 :        "The full truth about one of Britain's favourite historical fatties has been tracked down by a three-year study of overweight medieval monks.         Robin Hood's companion Friar Tuck had hundreds of real-life counterparts, according to a newly published analysis of skeletons in three monastic burial sites in London.         Suet, lard and butter were wolfed down in 'startling quantities' by the closed communities, whose abbots often depended on arranging large and regular helpings to keep their flocks under control.         'The way to a man's heart is through his stomach and this seems specially to have been the case with monks,' said Philippa Patrick, of the Institute of Archaeology, at University College, London. 'They were taking in about 6,000 calories a day, and 4,500 even when they were fasting.'         Arthritis in knees, hips and fingertips showed that the often under-employed monks were seriously obese.         Ms Patrick, whose findings were revealed to the International Medieval Congress, meeting in Leeds, said: 'Their meals were full of saturated fats. They were five times more likely to suffer from obesity than their secular contemporaries, including wealthy merchants or courtiers.'         The reckless scoffing was in clear breach of St Benedict's austere rules laid down probably in 530, which warned: 'There must be no danger of overeating, so that no monk is overtaken by indigestion, for there is nothing so opposed to Christian life as overeating.'         Critics, such as Peter the Venerable, who slated monks for 'wearing furs and eating fat', were advised however that Benedict had also warned about grumbling: 'Brethren would indeed grumble if deprived of the food to which they are accustomed.'         The skeletal data, from 300 sets of bones found at Tower Hill, Bermondsey, and Merton abbeys, includes information on a medical condition known now as Dish (diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis) triggered by overeating and a rich diet. 'The marks of Dish keep appearing on their skeletons. It forms a coating on the spine like candlewax dripping down the side,' said Ms Patrick. . .         A 13th century Cluniac friar's possible daily intake based on Ms. Patrick's studies:

Religion in the U S A         This is a great article about the unusual religiosity of Americans in general, and on beliefs regarding Mary in particular. Believe It, or Not by Nicholas D. Kristof                 " Today marks the Roman Catholics' Feast of the Assumption, honoring the moment that they believe God brought the Virgin Mary into Heaven. So here's a fact appropriate for the day: Americans are three times as likely to believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus (83 percent) as in evolution (28 percent).         So this day is an opportunity to look at perhaps the most fundamental divide between America and the rest of the industrialized world: faith. Religion remains central to American life, and is getting more so, in a way that is true of no other industrialized country, with the possible exception of South Korea.         Americans believe, 58 percent to 40 percent, that it is necessary to believe in God to be moral. In contrast, other developed countries overwhelmingly believe that it is not necessary. In France, only 13 percent agree with the U.S. view. (For details on the polls cited in this column, go to www.nytimes.com/kristofresponds.)         The faith in the Virgin Birth reflects the way American Christianity is becoming less intellectual and more mystical over time. The percentage of Americans who believe in the Virgin Birth actually rose five points in the latest poll.         My grandfather was fairly typical of his generation: A devout and active Presbyterian elder, he nonetheless believed firmly in evolution and regarded the Virgin Birth as a pious legend. Those kinds of mainline Christians are vanishing, replaced by evangelicals. Since 1960, the number of Pentecostalists has increased fourfold, while the number of Episcopalians has dropped almost in half.         The result is a gulf not only between America and the rest of the industrialized world, but a growing split at home as well. One of the most poisonous divides is the one between intellectual and religious America.         Some liberals wear T-shirts declaring, "So Many Right-Wing Christians . . . So Few Lions." On the other side, there are attitudes like those on a Web site, dutyisours.com/gwbush.htm, explaining the 2000 election this way:         "God defeated armies of Philistines and others with confusion. Dimpled and hanging chads may also be because of God's intervention on those who were voting incorrectly. Why is GW Bush our president? It was God's choice."         The Virgin Mary is an interesting prism through which to examine America's emphasis on faith because most Biblical scholars regard the evidence for the Virgin Birth, and for Mary's assumption into Heaven (which was proclaimed as Catholic dogma only in 1950), as so shaky that it pretty much has to be a leap of faith. As the Catholic theologian Hans Küng puts it in "On Being a Christian," the Virgin Birth is a "collection of largely uncertain, mutually contradictory, strongly legendary" narratives, an echo of virgin birth myths that were widespread in many parts of the ancient world.         Jaroslav Pelikan, the great Yale historian and theologian, says in his book "Mary Through the Centuries" that the earliest references to Mary (like Mark's gospel, the first to be written, or Paul's letter to the Galatians) don't mention anything unusual about the conception of Jesus. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke do say Mary was a virgin, but internal evidence suggests that that part of Luke, in particular, may have been added later by someone else (it is written, for example, in a different kind of Greek than the rest of that gospel).         Yet despite the lack of scientific or historical evidence, and despite the doubts of Biblical scholars, America is so pious that not only do 91 percent of Christians say they believe in the Virgin Birth, but so do an astonishing 47 percent of U.S. non-Christians.         I'm not denigrating anyone's beliefs. And I don't pretend to know why America is so much more infused with religious faith than the rest of the world. But I do think that we're in the middle of another religious Great Awakening, and that while this may bring spiritual comfort to many, it will also mean a growing polarization within our society.         But mostly, I'm troubled by the way the great intellectual traditions of Catholic and Protestant churches alike are withering, leaving the scholarly and religious worlds increasingly antagonistic. I worry partly because of the time I've spent with self-satisfied and unquestioning mullahs and imams, for the Islamic world is in crisis today in large part because of a similar drift away from a rich intellectual tradition and toward the mystical. The heart is a wonderful organ, but so is the brain." [ from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/opinion/15KRIS.html? ex=1061956996&ei=1&en=ac8d7a6978c28365 ] Was George W. Bush "the first (orthodox) Catholic U.S. president?

Catholic Church complicity in drug trafficing         According to Mexican Bishop Ramon Godinez, donations from drug traffickers to the Catholic Church in Mexico are not unusual and it's not the church's responsibility to investigate.  He argued that the money is "purified'' once it enters the church.  See Religion News blog.         Known instances of Catholic Church complicity in drug trafficing that have come out in Mexico : Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Irish lasses made into church slaves         One of the readers of our site brought a portion of recent Irish Catholic history to my attention that I had never heard a word about until now. This history is so shocking that I can't bring myself to write about it.  I know that defenders of the Catholic Church would use anything that I might write to accuse ME of bigotry and God knows what else.  So instead I simply urge anyone with an open mind to type the words "Magdalene Laundries" or "Magdalene Sisters" into their browser's search engine box (such as Google) and explore a few of the hundreds of links that come up.  Then, judge for yourself if a "Holy Mother" would her children as the Roman Catholic Church treated so many innocent young women, whose only crime -- in some cases -- was that they had charms that might tempt young Catholic boys.         Miramax produced a documentary film about this story in 2003, called "The Magdalene Sisters", which may well be available in a rental store near you.

Catholic diocese in Austria stung by porn found at seminary Bishop fights calls for his resignation By William J. Kole, Associated Press | July 13, 2004 VIENNA -- A vast cache of child pornography and photos of young priests having sex has been discovered at a Roman Catholic seminary, officials said yesterday, leading politicians and church leaders to demand a criminal probe and the resignation of the bishop in charge.                 Bishop Kurt Krenn, who oversees the diocese, refused to step down, dismissing the images as a "childish prank."         Leaders of the Catholic diocese of St. Poelten, where the seminary is located about 50 miles west of Vienna, spent much of the day in an emergency meeting.  The seminary's director, the Rev. Ulrich Kuechl, resigned along with his deputy, Wolfgang Rothe, the diocese said after the meeting. It did not elaborate.         As many as 40,000 photos and an undisclosed number of films, including child pornography, were found a year ago on computers at the seminary, the respected news magazine Profil reported.  It published several images purportedly showing young priests and their instructors kissing and fondling each other, and said others showed them engaging in orgies and sex games. The child pornography came mostly from websites based in Poland, the magazine said. . .         Krenn, a conservative churchman, told Austrian television he had seen photos of seminary leaders in sexual situations with students, but he described the images as part of an elaborate prank that "had nothing to do with homosexuality."  His nonchalance drew swift and scathing reaction across the overwhelmingly Catholic nation. . . Asked whether he intended to resign, Krenn said bluntly: "No." from www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/07/13/ catholic_diocese_in_austria_stung_by_porn_found_at_seminary/

U S states with the most Roman Catholics :
State	Number	Percent
Rhode Island	633,427	63.12
Massachusetts	2,961,359	49.22
Connecticut	1,374,747	41.82
New Jersey	3,189,315	41.26
New York	7,280,488	40.47
Louisiana	1,369,154	32.44
Wisconsin	1,554,278	31.77
Illinois	3,611,033	31.59
Pennsylvania	3,375,250	30.93
New Mexico	467,356	30.85
[ from http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_romcath.html ]

Contrary to what the G.O.P. would have Catholics believe, Democrats in Congress support Catholic Church positions much more often than do Republicans ! Research challenges bold G.O.P. boast by William V. D'Antonio and Jacqueline Scherer ( Special to the highly regarded National Catholic Reporter )         The Republican Party's "Catholic Task Force" has made a far-reaching claim: that of all political parties, the Republican Party's agenda best reflects Catholic teaching. Specifically, in a mission statement revised in January, 2000 the task force said, "We have studied the political record of all major political parties and we believe that the Republican Party is closest to the teachings of the Catholic church."         The party's claims are unusually bold, given that most people who follow national politics would say that since the 1930s, the Democrats have more consistently reflected the social teachings of the Catholic church.  Further, for most of that time, the majority of the Catholic vote has gone to Democratic candidates.         If there were a change in the historic alignment between Catholics and Democrats, it would be a dramatic, surprising shift.  And if Catholics believed the recent Republican claims, and voted accordingly, it could have significant electoral results.. . .         As researchers who have examined the religious factor in the U.S. Congress, we decided to examine the Republican claims.  Our extensive analysis, which included consulting many experts on Congressional votes in relation to Catholic teaching, shows clearly that, aside from the Republican Party's antiabortion stand, and its support for educational vouchers and funds for Catholic schools, the party's claim to best represent Catholic views is greatly exaggerated.  In virtually every other area of concern to Catholic leaders and to Network, the Catholic social justice lobby, support by Democrats in Congress for positions aligned with church teaching far outranks support by Republicans.         The bottom line of all of the research is that, contrary to the propaganda of the G.O.P., Democratic Congresspeople are three to four times as likely as Republicans to support the various positions of the Roman Catholic Church! See the results that research in the Tables below, or view the entire article at Research challenges bold GOP boast

Overall Summary :

Breakdown by Year & by Legislative Body :

See much more demographic research relating to ALL religious groups in America. and Why the G.O.P.  is not   GOD's Party and read a sermon on behalf of the people in the pews addressed TO the Roman Catholic Hierarchy

Links to Liberal Catholic Sites :

Explicitly Liberal Catholic Sites: Abuse complaints = 'staggering' VoicesofOutrage.Com : Where's the Justice? Anti-Catholic Bigotry Access to Catholic Social Justice R. C. Voter Guide (Liberal) Catholic Women About Abortion Catholics for Kerry 04 Index R. C. Holocaust Social Teaching - AMERICA 1998 Conservative R.C. Crusaders Pro-Life R.C.s Excommunicated FatherJohnDear.org Hitler was a Roman Catholic & Hitler was a Roman Catholic Holy Cross International Justice Office NETWORK -- Legislative Action Is Bill O'Reilly a Bad Catholic

Other Catholic Sites of interest to Liberals : Abortion-Communion issue R. C. Encyclopedia Apostolic Succession of Bishops Impact of Catholics on Election Bigotry - ally of religion R. C. Voter Guide (Conservative) Keep the dying alive. Mel Gibson's 'Passion' Pope Again Condemns Gay Marriage Pope John Paul II - Frontline Pope Pius XII - FAQs preservemarriage.org R C Bishops vs. Democrats R C Conservative Women R. C. DOMA against Gays

Various items in the news during the year 2007: Priest implicated in Argentinian dictatorship crimes goes on trial:         Former police chaplain went on trial on Thursday, the first Roman Catholic cleric to be prosecuted on charges of complicity in deaths and disappearances during Argentina's 1976 to 1983 military dictatorship.         Christian Von Wernich, 69, wore a bulletproof vest and a priest's collar as he appeared behind a reinforced glass shield in a federal courthouse in La Plata, the capital of Buenos Aires province.         The shouts of "assassin!" from some 200 activists protesting outside could be heard in the chamber as a clerk read charges accusing Von Wernich of collaborating with state security agents and covering up crimes in seven deaths, 31 cases of torture and 42 cases of illegal imprisonment.         http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/arch...7/07/2003368494 Pope Tells Journalists To Search For 'Truth':         http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ss_world/europe Vatican seeking immunity from prosecution for Pope:         The Vatican has sought the intervention of the U.S. State Department to declare Pope Benedict XVI immune from a sexual abuse lawsuit filed here, according to court documents.         http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/3201751         According to The Other Christ: Padre Pio and 19th Century Italy, by the historian Sergio Luzzatto, Padre Pio, to whom Italian Catholics pray more often than they do to Mary, or Jesus, was a life-long fraud.         It reveals the testimony of the saints own cousin, a pharmacist who said that the young Padre Pio bought four grams of carbolic acid in 1919. "I was an admirer of Padre Pio and I met him for the first time on 31 July 1919," wrote Maria De Vito. She claimed to have spent a month with the priest in the southern town of San Giovanni Rotondo, seeing him often.         "Padre Pio called me to him in complete secrecy and telling me not to tell his fellow brothers, he gave me personally an empty bottle, and asked if I would act as a chauffeur to transport it back from Foggia to San Giovanni Rotondo with four grams of pure carbolic acid. "He explained that the acid was for disinfecting syringes for injections. "         The Vatican says there is no investigation under way of allegations that the Mexican founder of a conservative religious order sexually abused seminarians         http://www.winktv.com/x466.xml?URL=http://...D/d8a8vi600.xml Vatican Reportedly Clears Priest:         Vaca, a former priest, is one of at least eight men in Mexico and the United States who have accused the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado of molesting them when they were teenage seminary students in the 1940s, '50s and '60s.         http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ss_world/europe Progressive Catholics don't forsee much improvement:         Despite the horrific drumbeat of child molestation revelations, however, sensible Catholics hoping for a more transparent and less sexually repressed church shouldn't hold their breath. The new pope is not only a longtime leader of vicious church attacks on "evil" gays, he also has shamefully blamed the molestation scandal on the media.         http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&...606scheer0524_1 Vatican Accused of Child Molestation Cover-Up :         http://atheism.about.com/b/a/098516.htm Many survivor's of abuse have not sued:         Survivors Network says the overwhelming majority of its members have never sued and are too traumatized to do so. They say they adopted their tactics after bishops promised for years to take action against guilty clergy, then never did.         http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7463011/page/2 Pope Benedict's Nazi past:         http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7576505 Former Phoenix Vicar General arrested:         The former vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix was arrested Monday on charges he fondled boys and young men and asked them prying questions about their sex lives that he pretended were part of confession.         http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051121/ap_on_...HBhBHNlYwM5NjQ- Archbishop William Levada submits to questioning:         Archbishop William Levada, the San Francisco prelate who earlier this year became the Vatican's guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy, has agreed to be questioned during a Jan. 9 deposition about his tenure as archbishop of Portland from 1986 to 1995.         Attorneys for the victims want to ask Levada whether he would rely on the so-called doctrine of "mental reservation" when answering questions at the deposition in San Francisco.         http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1415...TC-RSSFeeds0312. Leading Bishop accused of sexual abuse of woman 40 year ago:         A woman has filed a claim that she was sexually abused more than 40 years ago by Bishop William Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops and leader of the Spokane Diocese.         Skylstad, 70, was a student at Gonzaga University from 1962-1966 and taught mathematics to students at Mater Cleri Seminary at Colbert, north of Spokane.         The diocese is one of three in the nation that filed for bankruptcy protection to deal with claims of sexual abuse by clergy. Skylstad last month offered to settle with 75 victims for $45.7 million.         http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060309/ap_on_...DltBHNlYwM3MTY- Ohio Priest Convicted in Nun's Slaying:         A day before Easter in 1980, Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was found strangled and stabbed in a hospital chapel, the wounds on the nun's chest and neck forming what investigators say resembled a cross. An altar cloth covered part of her body. The trail soon went cold and stayed that way for more than 20 years , until investigators circled back to the priest who presided at her funeral Mass.         Father Gerald Robinson, 68, was found guilty of murder in a case swirling with allegations of an official cover-up, rumors of sexual abuse rites among priests, and suspicions that the killing was some kind of ritual slaying. sp; www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/11/national/main1610624.shtml?source=RSS&attr=U.S._1610624         A good preview of an interesting book about to be published on the Catholic Church in Massachusetts and the sex scandal climate there at the turn of the century: http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=56210         "the diocese ( of Arkansas) has adopted the policy for the organization for three reasons, the primary reason being that some Komen affiliates have given money to Planned Parenthood. While no affiliates in Arkansas have provided funding to the organization, she said, 25 percent of the money raised in Arkansas goes out of state and could potentially find its way to affiliates that do give to Planned Parenthood.         The second reason is that Komen endorses embryonic stem cell research on its Web site, Linane said. Whether any money has found its way into grants is not certain, but the organization does endorse it, she said.         She said the final reason is that Komen denies the link between breast cancer and abortion." [ http://www.nwarktimes.com/nwat/News/62592 ] A City of Angels blog by an advocate for those abused by priests shows why it has taken so long for the truth to emerge:         “You wouldn't believe the calls I get as Northern California director of SNAP. I’d say 90 percent of the victims don’t follow up with lawsuits or contacting the archdiocese. A lot of them don’t make it past the first phone call.”         I know what he means. Since starting this blog several people have spent time with me and told me horrendous stories about their rapes by priests. Then they never come back. I try to call them to find out more, or just to talk.         They've put their nightmare story in my head and now I need to do SOMETHING with it, but instead these persons disappear. They stop answering emails, they don’t return phone calls. This keeps happening to me.         Joey says it happens to him all the time too. Victims come forward and tell a small part of their story, then FREAK, and disappear.         I say, please call back. [ http://cityofangels4.blogspot.com/ ]

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2008/04/what_benedict_hasnt_said_about.html contact David@CatholicArrogance.Org This is just one of the many dimensions of Click on this banner to see the whole picture!