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Fanning the flames of outraged fury
Apr. 3rd, 2010 07:28 amThe BBC this morning leads with the following story:
There is an enormous, ugly difference between criticism of the pope in this instance and the anti-Semitism that has led to the slaughter of millions of Jews: nobody's criticizing the pope for the act of being Catholic. They are, justifiably, criticizing the hierarchy of the church, especially (right now) the German church, for ignoring and institutionalizing the abuse of thousands of young men and women by their own damned spiritual leaders.
What an insidiously evil thing to do, saying that unreasoned Jew-hating is somehow as morally horrific as a demand for papal accountability.
I was raised in the Catholic church. The clergy with whom I dealt were, to the best of my knowledge, kindly men who had an important calling and treated all of their parishoners with respect and love. They would, it seems to me, be horrified by Fr. Cantalamessa's words.
Jewish groups and victims of sex abuse by Catholic priests have condemned the Pope's preacher for comparing criticism of the pontiff to anti-Semitism.The sermon by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa was printed in full on the front page of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, even though the Vatican later said the priest's views were not the "official view."
There is an enormous, ugly difference between criticism of the pope in this instance and the anti-Semitism that has led to the slaughter of millions of Jews: nobody's criticizing the pope for the act of being Catholic. They are, justifiably, criticizing the hierarchy of the church, especially (right now) the German church, for ignoring and institutionalizing the abuse of thousands of young men and women by their own damned spiritual leaders.
What an insidiously evil thing to do, saying that unreasoned Jew-hating is somehow as morally horrific as a demand for papal accountability.
I was raised in the Catholic church. The clergy with whom I dealt were, to the best of my knowledge, kindly men who had an important calling and treated all of their parishoners with respect and love. They would, it seems to me, be horrified by Fr. Cantalamessa's words.