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The Pope learns about this thing called "the Internet."

edited December 2012 in Everything Else
This is a story that I just found out by accident today.

For two days in a row, the Onion has been uploading video updates which made fun of the Pope, and it made me wonder, "What the hell is the Onion's problem with the Pope? Did something bad happen?"

Since the Onion loves to mock recent events, I just had to do a search to see what was up. This was what I found.
Post edited by Daikun on

Comments

  • edited December 2012
    "What the hell is the Onion's problem with the Pope? Did something bad happen?"
    There's many reasons to hate the pope. Ignorant, homophobic, dangerous, anti-condom, child-rapist-protecting bastard.

    Post edited by Walker on
  • Has Benedict XVI specifically done anything worth hating, though? Being Pope doesn't mean you're evil. John Paul II was a pretty chill dude.
  • Well, he was a nazi... =P
  • Well, he was a nazi... =P
    I know but he did things before the church as well.

  • The only real problem with the Pope is that his old age has made him ignorant, xenophobic, and fearful. I have basically the same problems with the Pope that I do with my grandparents.
  • edited December 2012
    Well, he was a nazi... =P
    He was a member of the Hitler Youth (a translation I've never liked, but use anyway), and deserted the Wehrmacht. Maybe I just have high standards for what constitutes "Nazi," but I think that's pretty weak sauce.
    Post edited by Greg on
  • edited December 2012
    There's many reasons to hate the pope. Ignorant, homophobic, dangerous, anti-condom, child-rapist-protecting bastard.
    It just seemed kind of sudden for the Onion to do this multiple times in a row. If they did it once, I usually just laugh it off. If they do it more than once in rapid succession, that means there was a big, recent story.

    This is it? Really? Compared to everything else you listed, getting on Twitter is his big crime?
    Post edited by Daikun on
  • Yeah it was pretty hard not to be part of organisations like that at the time. It was no different to being in the boy scouts. Whether he actually believed in Nazism is another matter. Remember the old adage not all Germans were Nazis.

    I do seem to recall his valet being fired for leaking some of the shady shit about his finances. Also the whole hiding child abuse thing.
  • edited December 2012
    Also the whole hiding child abuse thing.
    child-rapist-protecting bastard.
    One of the cases Ratzinger pursued involved Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, a Mexican priest and founder of the Legion of Christ, who had been accused repeatedly of sexual abuse. Biographer Andrea Tornielli suggested that Cardinal Ratzinger had wanted to take action against Marcial Maciel Degollado, but that John Paul II and other high-ranking officials, including several cardinals and notably the pope's influential secretary Stanisław Dziwisz, prevented him from doing so[135][139]...After Ratzinger became pope he began proceedings against Maciel and the Legion of Christ that forced Maciel out of active service in the church.[134] On 1 May 2010 the Vatican issued a statement denouncing Maciel's "very serious and objectively immoral acts", which were "confirmed by incontrovertible testimonies" and represent "true crimes and manifest a life without scruples or authentic religious sentiment." Pope Benedict also said he would appoint a special commission to examine the Legionaries’ constitution and open an investigation into its lay affiliate Regnum Christi[141]...In March 2010, the Pope sent a Pastoral Letter to the Catholic Church in Ireland addressing cases of sexual abuse by Catholic priests to minors, expressing sorrow, and promising changes in the way accusations of abuse are dealt with.[143] Victim groups claim the letter failed to clarify if secular law enforcement has priority over canon law confidentiality pertaining to internal investigation of abuse allegations.[144][145][146][147] The Pope then promised to introduce measures that would 'safeguard young people in the future' and 'bring to justice' priests who were responsible for abuse.[133] In April, the Vatican issued guidelines on how existing church law should be implemented. The guideline dictates that "Civil law concerning reporting of crimes... should always be followed."[148]
    The sources are pretty good too. Seems like he's been pretty tough on the subject. I'm only catching up on the story now, though, so what do I know.
    Post edited by Greg on
  • Well, he was a nazi... =P
    You were either in the Hitler Jungen or you were at camp.
  • Well, he was a nazi... =P
    You were either in the Hitler Jungen or you were at camp.
    /"."\ Not one part of that sentence is right.
  • Yeah. People don't realize that the Church is a massive organization and incredibly corrupt. Watch Doubt if you want to have a very good idea of why the Pope himself is not the guy saying, "Yeah, hush that up, bros," w/r/t child abuse.

    And don't get me started on the Twitter ignoramuses calling the Pope a pedophile. Jeez Louise.
  • Indeed... Blaming the Pope for covering up child abuse would be akin to blaming the President of the United States for signing Arizona's uber-sketchy anti-immigration laws. The Church is massive and corrupt, as WUB said, and the cover ups mostly were handled by bishops and archbishops at the diocese level, which is more or less equivalent to governors at the state level.
  • I blame the pope for not stepping up and attacking the corruption and grief within and caused by the church. Opposition to birth control and abortion in African nations causes nothing but misery and exacerbates endemic problems.

    I also blame him for an increased regressive tendency in the church, embracing borderline archaic dogma, and basically halting the glacial progress it had made to this point in becoming almost something resembling a 19th century progressive organization.
  • So, the Pope resigned and it made me think of this thread. Do you think they may be related?
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