A Great Home for Sex Offenders

An angry cry rises up from the masses and screams why has the church forgotten the way!!

Surfing the net a little while ago I ran across a news article about a letter sent in 2001 from the now Pope, while he was a cardinal.

Jamie Doward, religious affairs correspondent
The Observer, Sunday 24 April 2005 09.58 BST

Below one will find quotes from the article listed above.

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 last week.

The letter, 'concerning very grave sins', was sent from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that once presided over the Inquisition and was overseen by Ratzinger.

It orders that 'preliminary investigations' into any claims of abuse should be sent to Ratzinger's office, which has the option of referring them back to private tribunals in which the 'functions of judge, promoter of justice, notary and legal representative can validly be performed for these cases only by priests'.

'Cases of this kind are subject to the pontifical secret,' Ratzinger's letter concludes. Breaching the pontifical secret at any time while the 10-year jurisdiction order is operating carries penalties, including the threat of excommunication.

Father John Beal, professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America, gave an oral deposition under oath on 8 April last year in which he admitted to Shea that the letter extended the church's jurisdiction and control over sexual assault crimes.

The Ratzinger letter was co-signed by Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone who gave an interview two years ago in which he hinted at the church's opposition to allowing outside agencies to investigate abuse

'In my opinion, the demand that a bishop be obligated to contact the police in order to denounce a priest who has admitted the offence of paedophilia is unfounded,' Bertone said.

A spokeswoman in the Vatican press office declined to comment when told about the contents of the letter. 'This is not a public document, so we would not talk about it,' she said.

End of quotes

When I read this type of stuff it just makes me so angry and my blood boils. So a good christen seeing someone hurting another and they are just to say nothing otherwise they are not fit to be in that religion??

Perhaps the new name of the Roman Catholic Church should be ... The Church of Ignorance and Arrogance.

The only thing that I can see to do is for all the sex offenders in the world to join the Catholic Church, become priests, and then they will have a true and caring home. Anyone that stays with this church is then believing at their own risk.

Is the church a religion or a government?? If they are a religion then is not everything open to the public?? This church makes me sick. They are the first ones to raise their voice when someone writes a book of fiction and they claim the facts are not right. Perhaps they need to read their book and understand it before they condemn someone else's book.

These are my beliefs.