Vatican: 1997 letter warning bishops not to report sexual abuse has been "misunderstood"

[Bluebear]

In a new round of damage control, the Vatican insisted Wednesday that a 1997 letter warning Irish bishops against reporting priests suspected of sex abuse to police had been "deeply misunderstood."

The Associated Press on Tuesday reported the contents of the letter, in which the Vatican's top diplomat in Ireland told bishops that their policy of mandatory reporting such cases to police "gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and canonical nature."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_ireland_catholic_abuse;_ylt=Ar2D7s1s9ez_YUkonwUyYtms0NUE

[wtmusic]

1. That photo of Ratzy sums up organized religion in a nutshell. nt

[Monk06]

2. Creepy old fuck. Just think when he dies the next in line will beatify him.

Sainthood has become a retirement present for Popes.

[charlie]

3. Dude's always misunderstood

The pope said his citation of the words of a medieval emperor, which sound "incomprehensibly brusque" in today's world, was "unfortunately misunderstood." The attentive reader, he said, would have known that he was not agreeing with the polemical criticism of Islam expressed by the emperor...

Benedict XVI has been under fire this past week for supposedly condemning equality legislation in the United Kingdom that seeks to protect gays and women in the workplace. His comments, however, were misunderstood, says a Vatican spokesman...

Catholic bishops said reproductive health (RH) advocates may have misunderstood Pope Benedict XVI's stand on condom use because the Catholic Church remains firm in its stand against artificial contraception. An Associated Press (AP) article on Sunday quoted the Pope as saying that condoms are not a moral solution to stopping AIDS but in some cases, such as for male prostitutes, their use could represent a first step in assuming moral responsibility "in the intention of reducing the risk of infection"...

[Bluebear]

7. Oh, Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood.

Someone didn't pray enough.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. Emperor Palpatine says, they will pay the price for their lack of vision.

God, you can practically see the force lightning.

[CoffeeCat]

5. Most people understand how EVIL they are...

...so really there is no "misunderstanding".

Jebus, how stupid do these sick bastards think we are?

There was definitely no misunderstanding. The letter warned bishops against reporting priest sex abuse. This sick philosophy was extended
to the victims as well--who were told to shut the hell up. Was that also a misunderstanding? Their policy has been crystal clear for
decades--leaving absolutely NO ROOM for "misunderstanding".

This continued rationalization only demonstrates that they don't care about the damage they've caused these children.

They have absolutely no remorse.

[Mojeoux]

6. This letter went out right about when Sinead O'Connor tor up a picture of the pope on SNL.

People freaked out, being a Catholicism survivor, I understood, but most people lost their Damn Minds!