Song(s) of the Day # 4,298 Tulsa
1 hour ago
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Pope Benedict hit by new Church child abuse allegations
The allegations stem from a letter signed by Benedict XVI in 1985, when he was a senior Vatican official.
Associated Press said it had obtained the letter, signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, resisting the defrocking of offending US priest Stephen Kiesle.
The Vatican says he was exercising due caution before sacking the priest.
Cardinal Ratzinger - who was at the time the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - said the "good of the universal Church" needed to be considered in any defrocking, AP reported.
Series of scandals
Vatican officials say the letter was part of a long correspondence and should not be taken out of context.
 | ANALYSIS  By David Willey, BBC News, Rome The Vatican claims the letter must be considered in its true context of a lengthy exchange of correspondence between California and Rome about defrocking an American priest who was a known child molester. The Pope's critics claim that he stalled and left unanswered for years letters concerning alleged cases of sexual abuse by priests. American bishops are coming under increasing pressure from their flocks to explain why the church in Rome did not take more robust action or took no action at all. So they are releasing confidential documents which put the future Pope's lack of action in a bad light. The Vatican insists that the Pope was only exercising due caution before sacking a priest for sexual misconduct. |
The allegations come as the Vatican says the Pope is willing to meet more victims of clerical abuse, and as the Vatican prepares to publish a guide on the internet about how bishops should deal with accusations of sexual abuse.
The Catholic Church has been hit by a series of child abuse scandals, including in Ireland, the US, Germany and Norway, and has faced criticism for failing to deal adequately with the problem.
The allegations come as the Vatican says the Pope is willing to meet more victims of clerical abuse and as the Vatican prepares to publish a guide on the internet as to how Bishops deal with accusations of sexual abuse, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome.
'Grave significance'
AP said the Rev Kiesle was sentenced to three years of probation in 1978 for lewd conduct with two young boys in San Francisco. It said the Oakland diocese had recommended Kiesle's removal in 1981 but that that did not happen until 1987.
Cardinal Ratzinger took over the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases, in 1981.
| ALLEGATIONS FACING POPE In 1980 as archbishop of Munich and Freising, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger unwittingly approved housing for a priest accused of child abuse. A former deputy later said he made the decision Cardinal Ratzinger failed to act over complaints during the 1990s about US priest Lawrence Murphy, who is thought to have abused some 200 deaf boys in Wisconsin Cardinal Ratzinger allowed a case against Arizona priest Michael Teta to languish at the Vatican for more than a decade despite repeated pleas for his removal Cardinal Ratzinger resisted the defrocking of California priest Stephen Kiesle, a convicted offender, saying "good of the universal Church" needed to be considered The Pope's supporters say he has been unfairly blamed for cases handled by junior staff, and that he has been proactive in addressing child abuse. |
Cardinal Ratzinger urged "as much paternal care as possible" for Kiesle.
Kiesle was sentenced to six years in prison in 2004 after admitting molesting a young girl in 1995.
Kiesle is now 63 and is on the registered sex offenders list in California.
On Friday, the Vatican urged Catholic dioceses around the world to co-operate with police investigating sex abuse allegations against priests.
Father Lombardi acknowledged that the Church had lost public trust and said Church law could no longer be placed above civil laws if that trust were to be recovered.
He also said Pope Benedict was prepared to meet more victims of abuse to offer them moral support.
|  This court... deems it necessary to consider the good of the Universal Church together with that of the petitioner   |
He says officials had previously accused critics of trying to smear the Pope personally and only last weekend said he should ignore petty gossip directed at him.
Meanwhile Italian media have reported that the Vatican is to issue guidelines on its website on Monday on fighting paedophilia.
The Vatican has ruled out any possibility of a papal resignation over the scandals.
Friday, 9 April 2010
johannhari101 If you're looking for class war, you can find it - in David Cameron's policies http://bit.ly/aSGzZs
Our digital future is being decided by idiots!
(Click to enlarge)
From the you'd-have-to-laugh-or-you'd-have-to-shoot-yourself department:
The Right Honourable Stephen Timms is the UK's "Minister for Digital Britain." He's the guy behind the Digital Economy Bill, which makes the US DMCA look good by comparison. Seriously, this is some terrible, terrible lawmaking.
Here's what appears to be a letter the DigiMini sent to another MP, explaining why the Digital Economy Bill needs to go forward. It reads, in part, "Copyright owners are currently able to go on-line (sic), look for material to which they hold the copyright and identify unauthorised sources for that material. They can then seek to download a copy of that material and in so doing capture information about the source including the Intellectual Property (IP) address..."
If this letter is genuine (and it seems to be), it means that the guy who's in charge of Britain's digital future thinks that the "IP" in "IP address" stands for "Intellectual Property."
Cory Doctorow (again) @'Boing Boing'
NYT ethicist: OK to pirate ebooks once you've bought the hardcover
Randy Cohen, author of the New York Times's The Ethicist column, was asked to venture an opinion on whether it's OK to download a pirate ebook after you've bought the hardcover. He says it's ethical, even if it's illegal:
"An illegal download is -- to use an ugly word -- illegal. But in this case, it is not unethical. Author and publisher are entitled to be paid for their work, and by purchasing the hardcover, you did so. Your subsequent downloading is akin to buying a CD, then copying it to your iPod. Buying a book or a piece of music should be regarded as a license to enjoy it on any platform. Sadly, the anachronistic conventions of bookselling and copyright law lag the technology. Thus you've violated the publishing company's legal right to control the distribution of its intellectual property, but you've done no harm or so little as to meet my threshold of acceptability."
Cory Doctorow @'Boing Boing'
Bar 303 Northcote Tonight - Oxfam Benefit Gig
Friday, 09 April 2010 at 19:30 | |
| End Time: | Saturday, 10 April 2010 at 01:00 |
| Location: | 303 |
| Street: | high st |
| Town/City: | Northcote, Australia |
Description
The Oxfam Trailwalker team of Tia, Ingram, Marte and Tim, whose powers combined, create 'Connex won't get us there', are proud to present a night of great music.We are very lucky to have some fantastically enjoyable musicians doing their thing all in the name of a good cause, these include:
Saskwatch - http://www.myspace.com/saskwatchmusic
Saskwatch is a nine-piece collective of young Melbourne musicians playing original Soul, Hip-hop and Funk.
Sophia Exiner - http://www.myspace.com/sophiaxband
Sophia Exiner plays heartfelt songs about love, life and cups of tea.
Right Hand Foot - http://www.myspace.com/righthandfoot
Right Hand Foot is a dirty rock experience infusing dance, grunge, blues and folk influences into their raw rock 'n roll music.
Dan Musil + Friends - http://www.myspace.com/bitofadan
"Mesmerising lap steel guitar & honest original songwiting- your toes will soon tap the heartbeat". To be joined by the sublime David Grant & Jarred Shay.
Also there will be super cool DJ’s spinning a tune or two when the chance arises.
The cost is $10 paid at the door, with 100% proceeds going to Oxfam.
For our part we are foolishly walking 100km in 48 hours to help raise funds for Oxfam’s brilliant work around the globe.
This is what your $10 can supply: provide basic medical supplies for one month for a person living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Hmm, not much to contemplate really.
If for some vaguely plausable reason you can't make it on the night, please do not let this stop you getting behind the team. You can donate online at https://secure.oxfam.org.au/donate/twpaymentevent.php?TeamID=7380&eventstate=VIC
DISCLAIMER:
That is son#1 impersonating Ringo Starr in the pic above!
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