Pope Benny resignation - "Bag Out Benny" Day

The news is everywhere - Pope Benedict XVI has announced his intention to resign on 28 February 2013.

When I was a Seminarian in Rome, Cardinal Ratzinger was a figure of loathing within the Vatican Heirarchy. A kind of marauding Evil Angel. My memory of him goes back to 1968. That's a long time.
At last he has gone. 
No wonder I am going a bit "Spas" about his resignation!
I have loathed that man, and everything he stood for, for 45 years.  

Me, in Rome, 1968.
A young Seminarian at Propaganda Fidei College.

There is one other Australian, who has the right to be feeling somewhat satisfied tonight.
Father Paul Collins, a former religious broadcaster on ABC Radio,
He resigned from active ministry as a Priest in March 2001. The reason was: "After thirty three years I have decided to resign as an ‘active' priest to  return to being an ordinary Catholic believer. Many people will justifiably  ask: why? The reason is simple: I can no longer conscientiously subscribe to  the policies and theological emphases coming from the Vatican and other official church sources."
He continues: "I have often been critical of the church's  leadership, perhaps too harshly at times, in books, broadcasts, talks and  articles. I have been concerned with ecclesiastical narrowness and the de  facto denial of catholicity. But I also constantly argued that it was only  by ‘staying in' the priesthood that someone like myself could influence  things and bring about change. But it was always an every-day decision to  continue the struggle through the internal structures of the church. And  there can come a moment when you decide that both conscientiously and  strategically ‘staying in' no longer remains a viable or honest option. You  realise that you can no longer collude in what is happening by remaining in  the official priesthood."
He names his nemesis as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - then Cardinal Ratzinger.

That was Pope Benedict's name, while still working his way up through the Bureaucracy of the Vatican.
I wish Paul Collins all the very best tonight.
No doubt for him it will be a bitter-sweet event.


It has been suggested to me by Rosslyn, on Facebook, that we declare a festive Bag Out Benny Day:

Some jokes doing the rounds:

*** He will be known as the Breakfast Pope, Ex-Benedict. (apologies to James Rolfe)
http://proxy.storify.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FBC2EgSpCUAAkXdI.jpg

*** Why is everybody surprised that Pope Benny pulled out early?
He's a Catholic, after all.

*** This last one is a Divine Punch Line
Lightning struck the Dome of St Peters basilica just hours after the Pope announced his resignation.
I am suspicious of this image having been either saved up from a previous event, or simply Photoshopped, but it is presented by the mainstream media  as genuine.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BC2h8wiCcAEuA05.jpg:large

• RT @AFP: #PHOTO: Lightning strikes St Peter's dome at #Vatican on day the #Pope announced resignation, by Filippo Monteforte http://pic.twitter.com/FehVjFYP

The Intelligence² Debate - Stephen Fry

Topic: "That the Catholic Church is (or is not) a force for good in the world."

This was the theme addressed by Stephen Fry, actor and writer, in the "Intelligence² Debate".

He speaks beautifully on a subject which is clearly has troubled him for a long time.

I recommend that you watch this video.

The full video runs for approximately 20 minutes, but I believe it is well worth the time.

There are two series of Questions and Answers in furtherance of the debate.

Sleeping Lies will Dog You, Cardinal Pell.

Sleeping Lies will Dog You, Cardinal Pell.
It is with shame and disappointment (but no surprise) that I read today that Cardinal Pell is still sticking to his legalistic line regarding an "apology" to Mr Jones, the man at the centre of a sex abuse non-apology which Cardinal Pell filibustered over, prior to the Pope's visit.

You may read the story in "The Age" (Fairfax) website today.

For goodness sake, Cardinal Pell, get on with the job which is surely to deliver JUSTICE - if you know what the word means - to Mr Jones. Stop being "political" just for a moment, if you can. Fix the problem.Admit that Jones was abused.
Admit that you covered it up.
Face the truth.

Then, get on with delivering justice to all other victims of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church in Australia.

If you do not do this, other lies will continue to dog you, Cardinal Pell.

Pope's Secret meeting with victims insults the other victims

The Pope held a private mass attended by four victims of s*xual abuse. Trouble is these hand-picked people were all compliant, and had been appeased by the processes of the Church.
What does that say to the hundred and thousands of others, whose complaints have not been addressed by the Church, or worse, whose legal claims have been defended on narrow legalistic bases? What about them?

"The church's NSW director of professional standards, Michael Salmon, said he had chosen them after a request "a number of weeks ago" because they had been through the church's internal processes, had achieved a level of healing, and would be comfortable attending Mass.

None had pursued civil legal actions but one had pursued criminal charges. All were abused as minors - one by a lay person in a school context and the rest by priests."

Source: news.com.au

As Greg Barnes in crikey.com.au says today:

As Andrew Morrison SC, who acted for Ellis, told the High Court, in effect the Catholic Church "in New South Wales and the ACT has so structured itself as to be immune from suit other than in respect of strictly property matters for all claims of abuse, neglect or negligence, including claims against teachers in parochial schools at least prior to 1986. That immunity, they say, extends to the present day in respect of the parochial duties of priests. We say that such immunity would be an outrage to any reasonable sense of justice and we say it is wrong in law."

Barnes continues:

"But the issue here is should the Church and Cardinal Pell have played legal hardball with a s-x abuse victim in the first place, and having been successful in their legal strategy, will they do the same thing again?

"If Pope Benedict’s apology is to mean something more than platitudes, then Cardinal Pell and the Catholic Church should stop hiding behind their expensive lawyers’ tactics and immediately apologise and compensate John Ellis for the abuse he suffered at the hands of the Church."

In the opinion of this blogger, the manner of the selection of appeased victims says it all - it is not designed to solve anything (for arguably the people who were invited have already been "healed" (supposedly). The problem for the Church is precisely with the people whose wounds have not been healed.

Clearly active, articulate persons like the Foster family were deliberately excluded, because the Church recognised it could not handle them. So, the mass, as a healing process, was a sham.

As the final act of World Youth Day, this act debases and demeans any achievements of the whole WYD process. It confirms WYD to be nothing more than a Tourist Promotion exercise for Sydney and a shallow and meaningless PR Stunt for the Catholic Church.

Nothing more, nothing less.

"no intelligible boundary" on what "causes annoyance".

One up for the "No to Pope" group. They have tested the law about which I drew attention last week - the regulations governing World Youth Day.

As the Fairfax Press website reports:

• Annoyance clause invalid

• The judges said that the interpretation of clause 7.1 of the act, which allowed regulation of conduct deemed to be a cause of "annoyance", was invalid because it "affects freedom of speech in a way that, in our opinion, is not supported by the statutory powers".

• There was "no intelligible boundary" on what "causes annoyance".

Amen to that!

It is yet another embarrassment to the Iemma Government, although, in truth John Watkins ought carry the can for this. Even I could see that you could have driven a truck through those stupidly worded Regulations. I am glad that the court has ruled against the "annoyance" provisions.

Fw: Papal visit - outrageous regulations

I decided a long time ago that I would not go to Sydney to see the Pope.
I am over Popes, to be truthful.

However, that was before these outrageous Regulations were promulgated, last week.

It is modelled on the APEC legislation - the laws which brought us the arrest of the Chaser team, and then the subsequent expensive and embarrassing dropping of charges against them.

---

Her Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has made

the following Regulation under the World Youth Day Act 2006.

World Youth Day Amendment Regulation 2008

under the

World Youth Day Act 2006

JOHN WATKINS, M.P.,

Deputy Premier

25 June 2008

---

World Youth Day Amendment Regulation 2008

Explanatory note

(f) empowers police officers and authorised members of the State Emergency Service and

the Rural Fire Service to direct a person within a World Youth Day declared area to cease engaging in conduct that is a risk to the safety of the person or others, causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants in a World Youth Day event or obstructs

a World Youth Day event (proposed clause 7 (1)), and

(g) makes it an offence (carrying a maximum penalty of 50 penalty units, currently $5,500) to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with such a direction (proposed clause 7 (2)), and

---

World Youth Day Amendment Regulation 2008

under the

World Youth Day Act 2006

7 Control of conduct within World Youth Day declared areas

(1) An authorised person may direct a person within a World Youth

Day declared area to cease engaging in conduct that:

(a) is a risk to the safety of the person or others, or

(b) causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants in a

World Youth Day event, or

(c) obstructs a World Youth Day event.

(2) A person must not, without reasonable excuse, fail to comply

with a direction given to the person under subclause (1).

Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units.

(3) A person is not guilty of an offence under this clause unless it is

established that the authorised person warned the person that a

failure to comply with the direction is an offence.

WORLD YOUTH DAY ACT 2006

Order under Section 3A

(World Youth Day declared areas)

I, ROY WAKELIN-KING, Chief Executive Officer of the World Youth Day Co-ordination Authority, in accordance with

the functions under section 3A of the World Youth Day Act 2006 ("the WYD Act") that the Deputy Premier and Minister

administering the WYD Act has delegated to me under section 51A of the WYD Act by Instrument of Delegation dated 29 May 2008, and having determined that certain areas are required for hosting a World Youth Day event, or for the provision

of services in relation to a World Youth Day event, hereby DESIGNATE each area specified in Schedule A hereunder to be

a "World Youth Day declared area".

WORLD YOUTH DAY ACT 2006

Order under Section 46

(Control of sale and distribution of articles in certain public places)

I, ROY WAKELIN-KING, Chief Executive Officer of the World Youth Day Co-ordination Authority ("the Authority"),

in accordance with the functions under section 46 of the World Youth Day Act 2006 ("the WYD Act") that the Deputy

Premier and Minister administering the WYD Act has delegated to me under section 51A of the WYD Act by Instrument of Delegation dated 29 May 2008 and having consulted with the Council of the City of Sydney in respect of land within the City of Sydney to which this order applies hereby SPECIFY:

1. each area described in Part 1 of Schedule A hereunder, excluding any part of the area described in Part 3 of Schedule A hereunder, to be "an Authority controlled area" for the purposes of section 46 of the WYD Act; and

2. each public place, or any part of a public place, that is within 500 metres of a transport facility or interchange or a World Youth Day venue or facility, being a public place, or part of a public place, that is shown on a map referred to in Part 2 of Schedule A hereunder, excluding any part of the public place described in Part 3 of Schedule A

hereunder, to be an "Authority controlled area" for the purposes of section 46 of the WYD Act.

---

If I go I will wear a T-shirt with the following logo (on the front)

and photo (on the rear).

Surely a defence of truthfulness would get me over the narrow definition of "causing annoyance to participants in a World Youth Day event".

If not, I would love the opportunity to defend myself in court.

The photo is real, not faked up. Taken at Castel Gandolfo (Pope's Summer Residence) outside Rome, 8 September 1968.

It is a photo of me being introduced to Pope Paul VI, and about to kiss his ring.

---

Something to think about, eh?

Not many people could wear this T-shirt with it being "offensive", gratuitous or annoying to Pilgrims. It is almost too good an opportunity to resist.