New Accusations | Leading German Bishop Accused of Ritually Beating and Punching Children

Updated April 2, 2010

In a rare interview and a 2,400-word statement posted Wednesday on the Vatican web site, Cardinal William J. Levada, accused the New York Times’s coverage of the sex abuse cases as being “deficient by any reasonable standards of fairness.” He also cited Times correspondents and writers as being unfair. That would be Maureen Dowd, for one. See Maureen Dowd below.

A major argument of the statement is that the Pope cannot be held liable for events committed in Wisconsin. This thesis is at the heart of lawsuits of lawsuits in America that are making the argument that the pope IS responsible for children entrusted to the church, and especially where a known history of pedophilia exists.

RedTracker| In a Vatican update evening April 1, we’re reading:

1. Just-breaking AP 1963 letter indicates former pope knew of abuse. In a 1963 letter to then-Pope Paul VI, the head of a New-Mexico-based ministry treating pedophile priests followed up with concrete recommendations to remove priests from ever again working with children.

The letter, written by the Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald, appears to have been drafted at the request of the pope and summarizes Fitzgerald’s thoughts on problem priests after his Vatican visit. via AP

2.  Sinead O’Connor Calls for Catholic Boycott Washington Post prints her Op Ed

3. Maureen Dowd has back to back Op Ed pieces that represent Dowd at her acerbic, clever, articulate best.

Today Should There Be an Inquisition for the Pope? NYTimes

March 27, 2010 A Nope for Pope NYTimes

Just published in London:

Papal ally accused of ritual beatings’ The Independent

The child abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church widened yesterday as a leading German bishop personally appointed by Pope Benedict was accused of ritually beating and punching children at a church-run home during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

From my perspective, I did not know that the Catholic Church had become so conservative, so dominated by more authoritarian leaders than when I was growing up.  I’m shocked by the exploding accusations of frequent beatings as proper discipline — even admited by the Pope’s brother as a choirmaster in Germany.

We must also understand that this belief in beatings isn’t confined to the Catholic Church. People are contacting me about life in Christian orphanages in America not run by the Catholic Church. Beatings were ritualistic there also. Anne