The full text of Pope Benedict XVI's last address:
ANZAC Day 2018
1 hour ago
Catholicism is directly responsible for hundreds of thousands (millions?) of deaths due to the spread of AIDS in Africa by discouraging condom use. [LudditeJourno on the Hand Mirror]
This is just going to keep on keeping on until the Church actually addresses what appears to be a systemic problem with pedophile priests.Except his sentence above contains a logical fallacy in that it assumes that if systemic problems he alleges are addressed today, then somehow these past cases will just vanish into thin air. But reality doesn't actually work that way.
Benedict has countered the sexual revolution with an Augustinian view of the meaning of human personhood. A human person, he has reminded the world, is not a machine. We are not merely collections of nerve endings that spark with sensation when rubbed together. Instead a human person is directed toward a one-flesh union, which is personal and spiritual. Destroying the ecology of marriage and family isn’t simply about tearing down old “moralities,” he has reminded us, but about a revolt against the web of nature in which human beings thrive.
And Benedict has stood against the nihilism that defines human worth in terms of power and usefulness. He has constantly spoken for those whose lives are seen as a burden to society: the baby with Down syndrome, the woman with advanced Alzheimer’s, the child starving in the desert, the prisoner being tortured. These lives aren’t things, he has said, but images of God, and for them we will give an account. When society wants to dehumanize with language: “embryo,” “fetus,” “anchor baby,” “illegal alien,” “collateral damage,” and so on, Benedict has stood firmly to point to the human faces the world is seeking to wipe away.
As Protestant Christians, we will disagree with this pope, and with the next one, on all sorts of things. Here we stand, we can do no other; God help us. But let’s pray the next pope, like this one, will remember what it means to be human, and will remind the rest of us when we forget.
Now that Benedict XVI is stepping down, how do you evaluate his legacy on the sexual abuse scandals?
Based on what I know personally, at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he was the first person, and the most determined person, to take on what he called the ‘open wound’ in the body of the church, meaning the sexual abuse of minors by clergy. He came to know about a number of cases, and the intensity of the wounds inflicted on victims. He became aware of what priests had done to minors, and to vulnerable adults. As a result, he became more and more convinced that it has to be tackled, and at various levels he started to deal with it – the canonical level, the ecclesial, and the personal.
Benedict XVI is the first pope who has met with and listened to abuse victims, who has apologized, and who has written about the problem both in his letter to Irish bishops and in the book Light of the World.
One very important step was to concentrate all the legal and administrative procedures at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Another was to appoint a very intelligent, practical and dedicated man as Promoter of Justice.
When I stood opposite the Holy Father on October 31, 2012, I was struck by his frailty. He seemed to be a mere spirit, fulfilling with the utmost effort and devotion his duty to greet a dozen people personally.
Protected from the pretty colours and bold fonts |
Holes appear in story of pope's resignation
For an institution devoted to eternal light, the Vatican has shown itself to be a master of smokescreens since Pope Benedict XVI's shock resignation announcement.
On Thursday (local time), the Vatican spokesman acknowledged that Benedict hit his head and bled profusely while visiting Mexico in March. Two days earlier the same man acknowledged that Benedict has had a pacemaker for years, and underwent a secret operation to replace its battery three months ago.
And as the Catholic world reeled from shock over the abdication, it soon became clear that Benedict's post-papacy lodgings have been under construction since at least the fall. That in turn put holes in the Holy See's early claims that Benedict kept his decision to himself until he revealed it.
Vatican secrecy is legendary and can have tragic consequences - as the world learned through the church sex abuse scandal in which bishops quietly moved abusive priests without reporting their crimes.
And the secrecy is institutionalised from such weighty matters to the most trivial aspects of Vatican life.
"You have to understand that actually every Vatican employee and official takes an oath of secrecy when they assume their job," said John Thavis, author of the Vatican Diaries, an investigation into the workings of the Holy See. "And this isn't something that is taken lightly. They swear to keep secret any office matters and anything pertaining to the pope."
Then there's the question of how many people knew of Benedict's decision to retire.It was a bolt from the blue. It woke me up completely when I heard it on the clock radio that normally eases me into wakefulness before another alarm goes off to get me out of bed. Yet, even I wasn't totally surprised that Pope Benedict XVI chose to step down, because of several, very important clues over the past few years that he might actually do this.
On the day of the announcement the Vatican cast it as a bolt from the blue, saying almost nobody knew but Benedict himself. Soon, however, prominent clergymen - one not even Catholic - began changing the tone and saying they were not surprised.
"Knowing the pope well, there was something in the air that this decision of the pope was possible," said Archbishop Piero Marini, master of papal ceremonies under Pope John Paul II. "So it was not a shock."
Even the retired Arcbishop of Canterbury, Bishop Rowan Williams, says that based on his last meeting with Benedict a year ago he was not surprise at the decision to step down.
"Because of our last conversation I was very conscious that he was recognising his own frailty and it did cross my mind to wonder whether this was a step he might think about," Williams told Vatican Radio.
Seewald: The great majority of these cases took place decades ago. Nevertheless they burden your pontificate now in particular. Have you thought of resigning?
Benedict XVI:When the danger is great one must not run away. For that reason, now is certainly not the time to resign. Precisely at a time like this one must stand fast and endure the difficult situation. That is my view. One can resign at a peaceful moment or when one simply cannot go on. But one must not run away from danger and say that someone else should do it.
Seewald: Is it possible then to imagine a situation in which you would consider a resignation by the Pope appropriate?
Benedict XVI: Yes. If a Pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically, and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right and, under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.
![]() |
Pope Benedict XVI leaving his pallum on Pope St. Celestine V's tomb |
Back on April 29, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI did something rather striking, but which went largely unnoticed.
He stopped off in Aquila, Italy, and visited the tomb of an obscure medieval Pope named St. Celestine V (1215-1296). After a brief prayer, he left his pallium, the symbol of his own episcopal authority as Bishop of Rome, on top of Celestine's tomb!
Fifteen months later, on July 4, 2010, Benedict went out of his way again, this time to visit and pray in the cathedral of Sulmona, near Rome, before the relics of this same saint, Celestine V.
Few people, however, noticed at the time.
Only now, we may be gaining a better understanding of what it meant. These actions were probably more than pious acts. More likely, they were profound and symbolic gestures of a very personal nature, which conveyed a message that a Pope can hardly deliver any other way.
"I think we must bear in mind that it was a very permissive society in which Valentine lived," says Father O'Gara. "Polygamy would have been much more popular than just one woman and one man living together. And yet some of them seemed to be attracted to Christian faith. But obviously the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem to the Christian church of what to do about this."
"The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about. And he secretly married them because of the edict."
Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine's actions while in prison.
"One of the men who was to judge him in line with the Roman law at the time was a man called Asterius, who's daughter was blind. He was supposed to have prayed with and healed the young girl with such astonishing effect that Asterius himself became Christian as a result."
In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius' daughter. He inspired today's romantic missives by signing it, "from your Valentine."
"What Valentine means to me as a priest," explains Father O'Gara, "is that there comes a time where you have to lay your life upon the line for what you believe. And with the power of the Holy Spirit we can do that -- even to the point of death."
"If Valentine were here today, he would say to married couples that there comes a time where you're going to have to suffer. It's not going to be easy to maintain your commitment and your vows in marriage. Don't be surprised if the 'gushing' love that you have for someone changes to something less "gushing" but maybe much more mature. And the question is, is that young person ready for that?"
"So on the day of the marriage they have to take that into context," Father O'Gara says. "Love -- human love and sexuality is wonderful, and blessed by God -- but also the shadow of the cross. That's what Valentine means to me."
His appointment went practically unnoticed but is proof of the great trust Benedict XVI has in the Opus Dei as part of his strategy to silently clean up the Roman Curia in the aftermath of the Vatileaks scandal. The Vatican City State has a new inspector: Rafael GarcĂa de la Serrana Villalobos.
Last 26 January, the priest was appointed vice director of the Department of Technical Services for the Governorate of the world’s smallest State. And he was not chosen by chance. Only yesterday he was head of logistics at the Opus Dei headquarters in Rome.
The not-quite-50-year-old priest was ordained presbyter on 23 May 2009. His is a classical “adult vocation” that was born within the body founded by San JosemarĂa Escrivá de Balaguer. An engineer by training, he coupled the skills needed in his new task with a deep spirituality.
He came to the Vatican after what had been a truly “black year” as a result of the Vatileaks affair (the scandal which broke out after the publication of some confidential letters which the Pope’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele stole from Benedict XVI’s apartment). One of the reports leaked by the poison pen letter writer and then published in Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi’s book “Sua SantitĂ ” (“His Holiness”), mentions that Mgr. Carlo Maria Viganò addressed the Pope, denouncing the “corruption” that existed within the Technical Services’ management.
Although the Vatican had denied that the situation was as described in the letter, Viganò wrote that the Technical Services’ management was being compromised by evident instances of corruption: work entrusted to the same companies, at double the cost of work carried out outside the Vatican. A kingdom divided into small feuds: a domestic construction industry and an external construction industry; a chaotic management of stores; the situation was beyond imagination and yet the Curia was well aware of it.
In his account, Viganò also made mention to the excessive amounts spent on the Nativity Scene for St. Peter’s Square. 550 thousand Euros were spent on it in 2009 but this was halved in 2010 after the cost-cutting operation adopted by the Vatican, with the setting-up costing just 21 thousand Euros thanks to the financial support of the Southern Italian region of Basilicata.
Given all the above, it appears Rafael GarcĂa de la Serrana’s appointment is anything but a coincidence. As an engineer, he offers a guarantee that he will not be duped into paying exorbitant prices; as a priest, he will ensure a greater resistance to temptation as well as restoring people’s trust in the Pope and in the Church. Honesty in other words.
With the new vice director of the Department of Technical Services, the Opus Dei has not only reinforced its role within the Curia, where some of its members occupy prestigious posts, it has also proved itself as one of the ecclesiastical bodies closest to the Pope.
Cardinal Julián Herranz led the commission that investigated into the source of the leaked news. Meanwhile, American journalist and numerary member of the Opus Dei, Greg Burke, is in charge of the Vatican communications strategy. All of them Opus Dei men.
The Government is using the pretext of helping children who are victims of family breakdown as a lever for continued social engineering.
Along with other legislation, e.g. the Families Commission, the forthcoming Civil Union Bill and the Care of Children Bill seek to replace the primacy of married parents with other types. It’s doing this piece by piece in a process we call ‘legislative creep’. All three Bills promote diversity from different angles and through incremental change. …
‘Creep’ will ensure continued change masquerading as ‘reform’. The social fabric is being re-defined through a few key pieces of legislation. Instead of encouraging diversity of family types, it is better to assist those having difficulties, while advocating and supporting marriage as the best environment for nurturing children.
"Pardon me while I vomit about the concern he expressed for nurturing children."
I look forward to hearing what our own Christian Taliban from NZ Conservative have to say about this!I'm glad the man has been caught, especially before he actually physically molested any children. He is also not quite the active paedophile that Aaron Ellmers was, though, given time he very well may have become so. Maybe the shock and the shame of being exposed and charged with crimes will help him change. Maybe it's not too late for him. Let's hope so.
They were very vocal about the Aaron Ellmers case recently.. will it be the same when a Christian values crusader is caught with his pants down?
Machiavelli didn't just lower the moral standards; he abolished them. More than a pragmatist, he was an anti-moralist. The only relevance he saw morality having to success was to stand in its way. He taught that it was necessary for a successful prince "to learn how not to be good" (The Prince, ch. 15), how to break promises, to lie and cheat and steal (ch. 18).All men are hypocrites unless they stop preaching - those that are safe are those that say nothing about morals. Given our fallen nature, the cudgel of hypocrisy can whack anyone who steps out to call for higher standards, even though real hypocrisy is not believing what you preach. That distinction is lost on the cudgel wielders.
Because of such shameless views, some of Machiavelli's contemporaries saw "The Prince" as a book literally inspired by the devil. But modern scholars usually see it as drawn from science. They defend Machiavelli by claiming that he did not deny morality, but simply wrote a book about another subject, about what is rather than about what ought to be. They even praise him for his lack of hypocrisy, implying that moralism equals hypocrisy.
This is the common, modern misunderstanding of hypocrisy as not practicing what you preach. In that sense all men are hypocrites unless they stop preaching. Matthew Arnold defined hypocrisy as "the tribute vice pays to virtue." Machiavelli was the first to refuse to pay even that tribute. He overcame hypocrisy not by raising practice to the level of preaching but of lowering preaching to the level of practice, by conforming the ideal to the real rather than the real to the ideal.
In fact, he really preaches: "Poppa, don't preach!"-like the recent rock song. Can you imagine Moses saying, "Poppa, don't preach!" to God on Mount Sinai? Or Mary to the angel? Or Christ in Gethsemane, instead of "Father, not my will but thine be done"? If you can, you are imagining hell, because our hope of heaven depends on those people having said to God, "Poppa, do preach!"
Actually, we have misdefined "hypocrisy." Hypocrisy is not the failure to practice what you preach but the failure to believe it. Hypocrisy is propaganda.
Air New Zealand is again under investigation over the credit card fees it charges passengers.It is the second time in a year the airline has come under scrutiny for fees that could breach the Fair Trading Act. The airline charges a $4 processing fee on all domestic bookings made by credit or debit card...Yes indeed, a government watchdog, always on the alert for corporates adding surcharges to their fees, are worried that AIR NZ are gouging the customer. Adding an extra surcharge on top of the total price.
Paula Bennett's enthusiastic acceptance of a charity programme launching in NZ schools is all the more depressing when you consider her comment that "society as a whole" needs to have input into poverty. If she doesn't believe the state represents "society as a whole" could she tell us who exactly she thinks the state represents? - Signed Don KavanaghSo let's go through this to see the problems with the Dom Post's "letter of the week":
Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;
Nothing in this Convention shall affect the right of the Government of New Zealand to continue to distinguish as it considers appropriate in its law and practice between persons according to the nature of their authority to be in New Zealand including but not limited to their entitlement to benefits and other protections described in the Convention, and the Government of New Zealand reserves the right to interpret and apply the Convention accordingly.
The Government of New Zealand considers that the rights of the child provided for in article 32 (1) are adequately protected by its existing law. It therefore reserves the right not to legislate further or to take additional measures as may be envisaged in article 32 (2).
The Government of New Zealand reserves the right not to apply article 37 (c) in circumstances where the shortage of suitable facilities makes the mixing of juveniles and adults unavoidable; and further reserves the right not to apply article 37 (c) where the interests of other juveniles in an establishment require the removal of a particular juvenile offender or where mixing is considered to be of benefit to the persons concerned.
Here's a very quick summary.
- MPs have voted for the gay marriage bill by 400 votes to 175 - a majority of 225. Such a large majority probably increases the chances of the bill being able to get through the House of Lords this year, without the government having to rely on the Parliament Act to push it through in 2014.
- More than half of the Tory MPs who voted chose to oppose gay marriage. Initial figures suggest that 139 Tories voted against, and only 132 voted for. Technically this is not a rebellion, because it was a free vote. But it is a severe embarrassment to David Cameron.
An international paedophile ring with New Zealand connections has been exposed by police, saving four children from further abuse, police say.
Aaron John Ellmers, 41, appeared in Hastings District Court today where he pleaded guilty to about 60 charges including sexual violation of children, stupefying, making an intimate visual recording, dealing in people for sexual exploitation and attempted sexual conduct with a child under 12.
He was remanded in custody for sentence in the High Court at Hastings in May.
Crown prosecutor Steve Manning said it was at the "absolute highest end'' of child sexual offending in the country, and successfully argued for sentencing to be moved to the High Court.
Ellmers also had a previous conviction for similar offending in Australia, the court was told.
Two other New Zealand men, in Canterbury and Auckland, also face several charges including sexual violation of children and making, possessing and distributing child abuse images, police said.Wow. It's going to be my mission to start documenting just how many of these types were have here. I've been letting these stories slip for too long.
The arrests follow a police operation targeting paedophiles in New Zealand and overseas which began in July last year and involved staff across the country including Northland, Auckland, eastern, Canterbury and southern districts.
As a result, four New Zealand children, aged 13 months to 13 years, had been saved from further abuse and police had made 35 referrals to authorities in Australia, the United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada, said Detective Senior Sergeant John Michael, head of OCEANZ, which is part of the National Criminal Investigations Group.
Feline solutionThis is the type of neighbour that all cat owners has to fear. A person obsessed with their garden to the point where they will kill and main any neighbourhood pet cat might happen to wander onto their property. Gin traps are illegal in urban areas, and I wonder if anyone using one could also be subject to an animal cruelty charge, which according this this news article on a man who stomped on his girlfriend's kitten's head, carries a maximum three years in prison and a fine of $50,000. Yes, it looks like using a gin trap makes one eligible for animal cruelty charges, but the previous article is incorrect on the fine amount, as this far more official NZ Government page just puts it at $25,000: Ministry for Primary Industries - Leg Hold Traps. Up to six months in prison would be devasting for a garden owner as it would be a veritable jungle by the time they got back to tend to it - much worse than anything a cat can do to it.
MY FRIEND has a pristine lawn and landscaped garden at her home on Wellington's Kapiti Coast. She complains of neighbour's cats invading her property, fighting, copulating, urinating, defacating, vomiting and digging up recently sewn plants. Her pleas for a solution to the council and SPCA have been to no avail as they don't want to know. My granddad experienced the same dilemma years ago on this lifestyle block and solved the problem by setting gin traps.
After several decapitations [!!] and countless paws in traps [!!], he had no more trouble. Cats are cunning and eventually learn where it's unsafe [if they survive!]. I admit some may think this is over the top and possibly illegal [it is illegal and I hope the SPCA find your friend and prosecute her!], but it works. My friend tried it and reports that "all is green in the garden".
A man has been arrested over a sexual assault on an 8-year-old girl at a South Island beach at the weekend.
The 20-year-old Invercargill man was arrested this morning and was due to appear in Invercargill District Court today, police said.
The girl was assaulted at Oreti Beach on Saturday.
“Other Members’ bills are not being rammed through at such speed. Some of these bills are being considered by the same Select Committee. The Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill was introduced a month before the same-sex marriage bill, and yet the Select Committee report is not due until August 2013. The Lobbying Disclosure Bill also had its first reading a month before the same-sex marriage bill, yet the report is not due until the end of July. The Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Services) Bill - a government bill – has 12 months for the Select Committee to consider.”
“Yet the same-sex marriage bill has just six months to consider 20,000-plus submissions, hear oral submissions, and report back. This is a cynical but calculated attempt to ram through a highly controversial law change without due consideration and debate,” says Mr McCoskrie.
Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the Power of God,
thrust down to Hell, Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam the world for the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Original content copyright (c) the respective bloggers of NZ Conservative. Please link back when referencing our material.