During the same-sex marriage court case and at public hearings preceding the adoption of the Civil Union Act, the South African Catholic Church was one of the groups that vehemently opposed the extension of full marriage rights to same-sex couples. The Church in effect argued that the law should not recognise the equal dignity of gay men and lesbians as we are sinners who, if we act on our emotional and sexual desire, are nothing more than perverts.
Now the Pope, the very head of the Catholic Church, has been directly implicated in mishandling the case of a paedophile priest in his former archdiocese of Munich. According to the New York Times, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was copied in on a memo from his deputy in which the priest was transferred to parish duties in Bavaria that brought him into contact with children. As a result of that decision by the then vicar-general, Father Gerhard Gruber, the priest was able to continue abusing boys, for which he was later tried and convicted.
One suspect the authority of the Catholic Church to confidently condemn others who have not abused or exploited anyone but have merely decided to stop living a lie and to follow their hearts, have been fatally compromised. As is often the case, Zapiro captures the hypocrisy of the Pope in a stark visual image.
Pope should be ‘fired’!
See: http://www.akanyangafrica.co.za/?p=471
Hear, hear.
I agree.
The Catholic Church has insidiously become the world’s largest corporation with a branch office in nearly every neighbourhood of the world.
It is a blight on the moral landscape of our planet.
Pierre, where you may be wrong in your conclusion about the South African Catholic Church is that you will probably find that it is merely a franchise like the big accounting firms have these days. You cannot hold Price Waterhouse or KPMG liable in South Africa for the UK or USA franhisee’s conduct.
Reminds me of Hitler writing in Mein Kampf how he disliked Syphilis and then we discover he got it from a prostitute years earlier!
Ja – unfortunately the church’s actions in this regard cannot be defended or condoned whatsoever. Over many years I have learned to seperate the church (being the heirachy specifically) from the Catholic faith in its essence and the sacramental life it offers. The church is merely a vehicle that trundles the faith along from age to age. At times it has been a lean, mean machine and at others, as it is now, a rather broken down, rickety, badly serviced and sometimes dangerous machine……. however the Gospel, the faith itself and the theology remains rooted in the message of Jesus Christ and it is a redemptive and healing message…….. so notwithstanding its poor state, there is some gratitude to be expressed to the chuch for trundling the message through the more than 2000 years since Christ died. It is in need of a serious overhaul in many ways though or the wheels may just fall right off! We trust in God!
Regarding nominations for the Constitutional Court Judges I would like to propose Bruce McGregor (MacGregor?) formaly of Deneys Reitz, Durban Office. Having had many dealings with him as our labour attorney, I found him to be a man of integrity, courage and conviction – not able to be intimidated, not even by the client paying his fees, and a highly moral and ethical gentleman. Totally fair and thorough, unbiased and a critical, deep thinker. Additionally I found him humble in his approach, nothwithstanding the success he had achieved at a young age. What always impressed me was the manner in which he handled the “accused” – always with dignity and respect and living in KZN, was fluent in Zulu and was able to converse with them in a relaxed and genuine way to get their side of the story. I couldn’t be more sincere in this recommendation and hope a man of his callibre would be considered for this office.
Damn Pierre, I was just going to throw the definition of the word “marriage” at you (ie a union between a man and a woman) and look what i found when I checked it:
mar·riage /ˈmærɪdʒ/ Show Spelled[mar-ij] Show IPA
–noun
1.a.the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.
b.a similar institution involving partners of the same gender: gay marriage.
I’d just be a bit carefull about condemning the Catholic Church outright. As an organisation they are entitled to make a case for their beliefs. The Catholic Church has, rightly in my opinion, been critised who its failure to modernise its views on certain issues (birth control is another shocker) and the steady demise in members of the Catholic Church bears testomony to this. However despite their problems and hypocrisy they still do a lot of good thoughout the world and I’d rather have them around than not at all. (Paedophilic priests excepted of course…)
Oh well, seems there’s no need to worry, according to Ratzinger it’s all just “petty gossip” – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8592111.stm. I didn’t think his foot could go any further down his throat without making an appearance at the other end…