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The Pope is sorry for "unjustifiable crimes" that were committed in the conquest of South America 500 years ago. (Better late than never) The pope told an audience in Rome that it was "not possible to forget the suffering and the injustices inflicted by colonizers against the indigenous population, whose fundamental human rights were often trampled."
South Americans were mad when the Pope recently visited Brazil and swept genocide caused by disease, forced conversion and outright murder under the carpet. In the offending speech, the Pope said: "The proclamation of Jesus and of his Gospel did not at any point involve an alienation of the pre-Columbus cultures, nor was it the imposition of a foreign culture." (I guess wiping these people and cultures off the face of this earth was not offending)
It seems whenever the Pope hits the road, he brings more controversy than a Janet Jackson breast. He seems to say the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe, he should just quietly go back to being Rome's rules enforcer, instead of giving speeches that piss off entire cultures, continents or religions.
To his credit, I guess, he did kind of apologized. However, this raises a question: How can an institution that inflicted "suffering and injustices" on others in the name of religion, be trusted to be the moral voice on homosexuality?
Like the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Vatican has been on the wrong side of history on many burning social issues. They have had to offer mea culpas to Jews, women, black people and now South Americans.
In their typically timely fashion, in about 500 years, a future Pope will also offer gay people an apology. Too bad I won't be around to hear it.
7 Comments:
In 500 years THEY may not be around anymore either. But we'll still be here designing the latest space stations and cruising extra-terrestrial bars---smile. Red V
posted by Anonymous, at
5/24/2007 4:04 PM
We have to remember Rattziger was socialised through a Nazi education system. Traits of understanding and insight were not on that curriculum. The trouble is Rattzinger actually believes he is a God and that makes him dangerous. He milks those poor soles of followers who are so conditioned to adore him and not to question him that they are blinded by their ignorance. The whole catholic clergy is one sick institution.
posted by Anonymous, at
5/25/2007 2:48 AM
The RC church is in decline, rotting from within. It is guilty of many things including the deaths of millions of AIDS sufferers in Africa and elsewhere where it is overwhelmingly heterosexually transmitted, yet he forbids condom distribution to those who most need them. It is a church out of touch with reality and increasingly becoming more irrelevant with the passage of time. Good riddance to this corrupt institution! But...he'll be back in 2008 to stomp for the republicans, just watch!
I just read a telling statistic in the paper this morning. In Brazil, the pope drew between 500 and 800 thousand spectators, while the gay pride parade last year was attended by 3 million. I doubt if they were all gay, but we can throw a hell of a better party than that old Hitlerjugend fart!
Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Pope.
posted by Anonymous, at
5/25/2007 4:32 PM
der how long and which POe will do the same for the injustices againt LGBT persons...considering so many of "them" are "us"? ooxx, Ruthie
posted by Anonymous, at
5/25/2007 9:13 PM
