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 Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, left, greets Pope Francis during a March meeting at the Vatican gardens.
September 24th, 2013
02:05 PM ET
Ex-pope breaks silence, denies cover upBy Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-editor Follow @BurkeCNN(CNN) - Retired Pope Benedict XVI says he never tried to cover up the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, breaking his post-retirement silence to address one of the greatest threats to his legacy as a church leader. In a lengthy letter published in La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper, the former pope answered theological and moral arguments from Piergiorgio Odifreddi, an Italian atheist and mathematician who had written about Benedict in 2011. Earlier this month, La Repubblica also published a letter to its atheist editor from Pope Francis, Benedict's successor. Since his retirement on February 28, Benedict has mostly stayed out of the public eye, living in a converted monastery behind St. Peter's Basilica and keeping his promise to steer clear - at least publicly - of church business. Benedict's new letter, coming on the heels of Francis' blockbuster interview published last week, makes for a remarkable week for papal communication. Most modern popes have been fairly inaccessible - to the media, at least. MORE ON CNN: Pope Francis: Church can't 'interfere' with gays In Benedict's letter, published Tuesday, the former pope said: "As far as you mentioning the moral abuse of minors by priests, I can only, as you know, acknowledge it with profound consternation. But I never tried to cover up these things." Benedict, who now has the title "pope emeritus," also said that even though sociologists have determined that the percentage of priests accused of abusing minors is not markedly higher than other professions, that's "not reassuring" for the church. Critics answer that it's the not just the crimes but the coverups that made the church's response to sexual abuse so scandalous. "Over a clerical career that lasted more than six decades, we can’t think of a single child-molesting bishop, priest, nun, brother or seminarian that Benedict ever exposed," said Barbara Dorris of the U.S.-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Before he was elected pope, Benedict, formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which assumed responsibility for handling priest abuse cases late in his career. As pope, he issued revised guidelines in 2010 making it easier to remove abusive priests from the ministry, apologized for the "shame" the scandal brought on the church and met with victims, including in the United States in 2008. Critics like SNAP dismissed those moves as too little, too late. In the United States alone, nearly 17,000 people have come forward with abuse claims, and the church has paid $2.6 billion in settlements, therapy bills, lawyers' fees and expenses related to removing priests from the ministry, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. MORE ON CNN: Can Pope Francis make his vision a reality? In Tuesday's letter, and on past occasions, Benedict has decried the "filth" of sexual abuse in the church. But, the emeritus pope said, it is not "specific to Catholicism." He also chided Odifreddi for neglecting the good the church has done. "If you do not remain silent about evil in the Church, we must not, however, be silenced even by the great shining path of goodness and purity, which Christian faith has traced through the centuries," Benedict said. Pope Francis said in April, in one of his first statements as pope, that the church must take "decisive action" regarding cases of child sexual abuse and protecting children.
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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I'm with Stupid → Atheist.
Hehe! That were pretty funny, but you gotta work on sum skillz ifin yer gonna take the bible belt blue collar comedy tour! Try sumpin like did "Git er dun!" or "Evolution smevilution!" or the ol classic "I'ma used rubber, yer glue, whatever I don't get on my hands i'm gonna wipe on you..."
Fsck off and die, ass wipe.
If we, atheists, had that much money to kill off your religious freaks religion we will do it!
"Anonymous billionaires donated $120m to more than 100 anti-climate groups working to discredit climate change science"
-Investing in $120 Million dollars for NOT believing in it. Just marvelous!
You are beyond ridiculous.
Global warming and the loinks of tobacco to cancer is junk science, but idiots like you want to teach crationism in school. You aren't a Soldier of Conscience. You are a denier of what is plainly in front of your face.
S/B links to cancer
S/B creationism
We can always use the standard pat answer of "God did it!"
"Climate Change Denial and the Far Right"
http://beingchristian.net/climate-change-denial-and-the-far-right/
--
::Read about it you scumbag religious freaks::
"Donors Trust" << - the more you know, the less we have to put up with you religious freaks.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/14/funding-climate-change-denial-thinktanks-network
""Theory of Evolution" and "Law of Gravity" .. nuff said."
It is sad that an American would say such an absurd thing. Newton's "law of gravity" is not right in all ranges. That's why relativity came in. Relativity is very likely not complete either. We don't deny that gravity exists because the theory is incomplete. We use it to achieve great things in the valid ranges of the theory. Band gap theory in solid state physics is an approximation that works in a broad useful range and we have semi-conductors because of that. Wireless devices, computers, etc are the benefits.
Denying evolution because the theory is incomplete is like saying "I don't believe semi-conductors are real because bang gap theory is not complete", or "I don't believe there is gravity because the theory of relativity breaks down at quantum scales".
You can save the planet by having all of your orifices sealed, starting with the ones you breathe through.
It's caused by the noxious gasses released everytime someone like you opens their mouth and orally farts out a bunch of nonsense.
Soldier,
LOL. Rather than experts, the UN should just have contacted you. LOL!
what about it? Are you doing your part?
Time is up!
The correct answer was Mary Johnson, Crown College graduate. 1-855–CROWN-YOU
Called to Serve. Prepared to Lead.
Channel your faith through online learning
Yes, and I am very educated. I have a degree in religion.
THAT'S the question, do YOU know the answer?
What school?
AE that is INCORRECT. Sorry.
I am very educated. I have a degree in religion.
THAT'S the question, do YOU know the answer?
What does Apple Bush imagine a smart Christian's qualifications look like?
Well AE, in my imagination they look shiny and you can lick the sugar off. But in real life, they look like Mary Johnson, Crown College graduate.
Oh sorry, 1-855–CROWN-YOU
Humble pie would be good, an educated person even in religion does not have all the answers.
Sorry. This round is over.
You, child
Crossing the line without knowing
Just for being who you are
What confusion was hard wired?
A developing brain, healthy and ready
Sabotaged as a child
To an inevitable end!
If I were smart Christian, I would.....
oh never mind, that is never going to go anywhere.
Ouch, dude!
Dude, sometimes the BS from ya'll gets so thick I have to fire a torpedo to break through!
break through to what?
The POOP Billy. The Christian poop.
Oh sorry Bill, you said "to".
Truth.
OH, then take a break my man. Pontius Pilate got the answer for you.
FIRE!
Topher, is that me?
Mecca
Blankety blank out about to catch ya
Rollin it up, got my paper
L.A. is a friendly neighbor
Don’t put on the upities and yuppities
I like my dogs better
Raised on religion, living on stealin’
Mecca’s in my head buy not in my religion.
Take a break for a month and come back to see the same athiests making the same comments. There is a wonderful world out there go enjoy it!
Doesn't that apply exactly as well to the christians?
Yes. You act exactly like Christians!
I change a little from year to year. Right now for instance I am more reptilian. Next year I am going back to something more traditional.
Are you evolving or devolving?
You and Live4 both are so good at leaps in 'logic'...
I'm sorry I misunderstood the topic.
Computer analysis of all the known New Testament manuscripts reveal only 0.1 percent variance. That means that 99.9 percent of the manuscripts' contents are in perfect agreement.
How the Bible Became a Book, Terry Hall, 1990
And with this, I'm out of here for now. (The atheists are now applauding!)
we won't even notice you've gone ...
but we do understand that there's a new SpongeBob episode that you just can't miss. See you in half an hour.
I guess we'll have to find our comedy somewhere else the rest of the day.
computer analysis in 1990.. do you even know the power of those machines or the maturity of algorithms back then?
Live4 seems pretty good at just believing everything he reads.
A 23-year old computer analysis? We're supposed to buy that? Lol, you're not really a scientist, are you?
Atheists want you to stay here, because you are nothing if not comedy gold.
L$H is a bore, It seems that you do not look at the Big picture of things. Just think of your age the time that you went to school and the books that you used, can you say that they are accurate and can be used in todays class rooms. The Bible it's last part Revolations was written around 90 c.e. It was the attention of elimination by burning, Banning and yet it is around. Many books can not say the same like Inventio Fortunata. The Bible was written by man but it does not Belong to man.
Its, not it's.
0.1 variance from 99.9 % crap is still 99.9 % crap. It's NOT helping your case.
The Church Fathers were self admitted lying sobs. They wrote the thing.
A book by liars is a book of lies.
http://www.thethinkingatheist.com/forum/Thread-Deception-in-the-early-church
Lie4Him, At best that means they were reasonably accurate copies, it doesn't mean that the content is substantiated or accurate.
Ummm... nope.
"there are more differences among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament."
Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus p. 10
The joyful myth and eager messenger;
Stained glass soars to the rafters;
Surely God is here, and yet this house is empty;
No salesman can close;
Lovely building full of lies, heard less prayers than cries;
Sacred this and sacred that;
Babies raped and priests zipping up their pants;
No leads to follow;
This is what Jesus witnesses from His lofty perch in that glass;
Abuse the sheep and pay the tithe;
Fill the tray and please don’t stay;
Such a lovely cathedral, such a vile torture chamber.