'Ole bennie traveled to the Italian Mafia's 'hood and clammed-up.
Toronto Star's report:
Pope silent on Camorra crime
Prayer `a spiritual weapon in the struggle against evil,' Benedict tells pilgrims
October 20, 2008 - Philip Pullella - REUTERS NEWS AGENCY
POMPEII, Italy–The Vatican yesterday defended Pope Benedict's decision to avoid direct condemnation of organized crime during a trip to a southern area infested by the Camorra, one of its most ruthless manifestations.
_______________
In his speeches, Benedict XVI did not use the words organized crime or Camorra, as the local mafia is known. He made only an oblique reference, saying prayer is "a spiritual weapon in the struggle against evil and every form of violence."
Questioned by reporters, a Vatican spokesperson said the Pope intentionally avoided the word Camorra.
"The trip has a strictly spiritual dimension and it was out of respect for the fact that most people from this area are honest and not members of organized crime," the spokesperson said.
"The Pope preferred suggesting the positive energy through which the Camorra can be defeated," he said, noting the pontiff had already spoken out against organized crime during a visit to Naples in 2007.
Here's an alternative theory for your consideration:
Perhaps bennie and the jerks opted to not piss off the Mafiosos in order to keep the ill-gotten gains contributions flowing into the collection plate.
Just a thought . . . .
(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)
From ABC News today:
Pope to get image makeover from director
Posted December 16
Italian film and opera legend Franco Zeffirelli says he has agreed to become an image consultant to Pope Benedict XVI.
The pope does not have a "happy image", Zeffirelli tells Italian daily La Stampa in an interview published today.
"Coming after a Pope as telegenic as John Paul II is a difficult task," he said.
Zeffirelli says Pope Benedict, elected in 2005, "comes across coldly, which isn't suited to his surroundings" and added that his wardrobe "should be reviewed". * (Emphasis added, ed.)
* No shit, Sherlock . . . .
(Cross-posted from Moving to Vancouver)
"Smile! You're on . . . . "
From today's Globe and Mail:
Vatican suspends gay monsignor after hidden camera outing
FRANCES D'EMILIO Associated Press
October 13, 2007 at 2:40 PM EDT
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican said Saturday it has suspended a monsignor from a senior post at the Holy See after an Italian TV program using a hidden camera recorded him making advances to a young man and asserting that gay sex was not sinful.
The Vatican did not identify the monsignor by name. But Monsignor Tommaso Stenico confirmed in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that he had been suspended from his post at the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy, an office which aims to ensure proper conduct by priests.
“Don't condemn me,” Monsignor Stenico said, adding that the program “was done fraudulently” because it used a hidden camera.
In the program on private Italian network La7, a man identified as a priest is heard saying that he “didn't feel he was sinning” by having sex with gay men.
Rome daily La Repubblica reported Saturday that Vatican officials recognized the monsignor's office in the background of the program, which aired Oct. 1.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said the Italian monsignor was suspended while the case was under investigation.
“Higher-ups are evaluating the situation with the necessary reserve and with the obligatory respect for the person involved, even if this person has erred,” Rev. Lombardi said.
Vatican officials “had to intervene decisively and with the severity required by conduct not compatible with priestly service and with the mission of the Holy See,” he added.
While the Vatican rarely comments on individual sex scandals, this case directly touched the Holy See, apparently prompting the confirmation of the report.
Vatican teaching holds that homosexual activity is a sin.
Monsignor Stenico said to call back later in the day when he would have more to say, but later attempts to reach him were not successful.
The Italian news agency ANSA quoted him as saying he had sent his superiors “a dutiful memo” about the case.
Milan daily Corriere della Sera had previously reported that a young man had contacted La7 and said he had been in contact with several priests on chat lines popular with gay men. Corriere said La7 then filmed encounters between the man and priests with a hidden camera.
A woman identifying herself as a producer for La7's “Exit” program declined to comment about the case, saying only that the program could be viewed on the network's Web site.
In the program, the faces of those speaking with the young man are obscured and their voices altered so they would not be recognized.
The man La Repubblica identified as the Vatican official can be heard saying that “he didn't feel he was sinning” by having sex with gay men and asking his visitor if he liked him
. 
Now, just a damn minute. Bennie and Company have a problem with this guy being gay when he (Bennie) goes out in public dressed like this?!?!?
Give me a f_cking break! At least the monsignor is having sex with gay men as opposed to altar boys like most of the priests in the flock . . . .
(Cross-posted from Moving to Vancouver)
From Reuters today:
Catholic Church avoids abuse trial with LA dealBy Adam Tanner Sun Jul 15, 2007 4:45PM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said on Sunday it would pay people who were sexually abused by priests as children a record $660 million, although some victims regretted it meant church leaders would not face questioning in court.
Facing trial on Monday over abuse allegations dating as far back as the 1940s, the Archdiocese agreed to pay 508 victims the largest-ever group settlement.
And later in the article:
"What we would have seen is the horrors with the reality that hundreds of children were sexually assaulted, raped, sodomized by priests when the leadership of the church knew."J. Michael Hennigan, attorney for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said the church would fund about $250 million of the $660 million settlement. The rest will come from insurers including Chubb, AIG, Allianz and Fireman's Fund with whom the church holds general liability policies as well as several Catholic religious orders.Hennigan expects payments by the end of the year, with the church selling nonessential real estate assets, including the Los Angeles Archdiocese headquarters, to raise the funds.If the Archdiocese meets that schedule, the payments will come ahead of a 2008 trip by Pope Benedict to the United States announced on Sunday.Yes, that would be the same dude formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (how appropriate) referred to below: (From The Guardian)
Pope 'obstructed' sex abuse inquiryConfidential letter reveals Ratzinger ordered bishops to keep allegations secret Jamie Doward, religious affairs correspondent Sunday April 24, 2005 The ObserverPope Benedict XVI faced claims last night he had 'obstructed justice' after it emerged he issued an order ensuring 
the church's investigations into child sex abuse claims be carried out in secret.
The order was made in a confidential letter, obtained by The Observer, which was sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001.It asserted the church's right to hold its inquiries behind closed doors and keep the evidence confidential for up to 10 years after the victims reached adulthood. The letter was signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected as John Paul II's successor.
Yeah, let's make sure the Archdiocese pays that $ettlement off before Her Highness arrives. For goodness' sake, we wouldn't want her to have to face something she thought was "behind closed doors" all these years.
bennie, you've got a lot to answer for.
But we can wait 'til after you pay up . . . .
(Cross-posted from Moving to Vancouver)
From today's Toronto Star:Benedict the Brander muscles his message
The Pope's focus on Catholic fundamentals scares reformers but works miracles, marketers say
Catherine Mulroney Special to the Star July 14, 2007
Call him the Bill Gates of the Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict XVI, leader of more than 1 billion Roman Catholics worldwide, is no stranger to controversy. Last Tuesday, he reasserted the primacy of the Catholic Church, stating it is the one true church. This following his approval of the broader use of the Latin Mass, has set critics' tongues wagging and refocused attention on church politics and practise.
Benedict's edicts, issued just before his summer vacation, have naysayers expressing concerns about everything from the political correctness of claiming church supremacy to fears it will soon become impossible to attend mass in the vernacular.
But numbers tell a different tale regarding his appeal to a core population of Catholics. The Vatican's financial statements for 2006, Benedict's first full year as pope, show a huge leap in donations to the papal charity known as Peter's Pence, ($101 million U.S. in 2006 versus $64.4 million the year before) in 2006, and the numbers of faithful flocking to St. Peter's Square in Rome are soaring. While marketing is likely the last thing on the Pope's mind, experts in that worldly field say Benedict's actions serve very powerfully to brand the Catholic Church in the eyes of the world, bringing a muscular "take-it-or-leave-it" approach to church positioning.
"Benedict is very progressive about his brand," says Patrick McGovern, vice-president of Blade Creative Branding, a Toronto-based marketing agency, who gives the Pope credit for clearly expressing the values a core constituency holds dear. "If everybody is wishy-washy, (the institution) will wash away."
For many people, belonging to a church with a unique chain of command leading up to the papacy has great appeal and reassurance, McGovern argues. Windows has Bill Gates. The Catholic Church has Benedict."
I'm putting my money on Bill Gates.
At least he has better fashion sense . . . .
(Cross-Posted at Moving to Vancouver)
