February 27, 2008
Vatican Complicit in Tyranny
I'll be frank - a great many folks will inevitably take umbrage at what I've got to say regarding Cardinal Bertone's recently wrapped-up "vacation" in Havana. I'm prepared for the bullets that may be fired across my bow and stand by today's posting 100 percent.
Vatican Complicit in Tyranny
As posted in CubaWatch
As the Catholic church’s official interpreter of the word of God, the Vatican is charged with – among other things – fostering the development of respect, brotherhood and love of humanity. The philosophy of Jesus Christ was one of love and compassion – not one of hate and political oppression.
Of course, there have been periods in the history of the church when the Vatican strayed from Christian ideals. Pope John XII was killed by the husband of his lover in 964. Pope Alexander VI was said to have enjoyed an illicit relationship with his own daughter, Lucrezia. In more recent years, the Vatican elected Eugenio Pacelli as pontiff. As Pope Pius XII, Pacelli would remain mum during Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, even refusing calls for help from the Jewish people. Stand-up guy, Pius XII.
In recent years however, the Vatican, especially under the leadership of the late Pope John Paul II, had made great strides in coming to terms with its checkered past. Over the course of the past two decades, we saw the Catholic church’s highest emissary deliver apologies for its less-than-stellar treatment of Jews, the torture and burning of those deemed to be “heretics” and acts of genocide committed against entire religious groups. Past examples of penitence by the Vatican however, seem to have been nothing more than hollow gestures however.
Upon his recent arrival in Havana, Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone was quick to condemn the United States’ trade embargo against Cuba, suggesting that the embargo, and not the Cuban government, was the source of the nation’s ills. Bertone did raise the issue of the church’s concern regarding prisoners during his meeting with Raul Castro, but failed to confront the dictatorship head-on. In short, Bertone chose to ignore the Cuban people in hopes of not raising the hackles of government officials. This, my friends, is a very weak man.
Cardinal Bertone and the Vatican hierarchy have betrayed the teachings of Christ by choosing politeness over the livelihood of over 11-million lost souls on the imprisoned island of Cuba. During his visit to the Pearl of the Antilles, our brothers and sisters saw no condemnation of the Stalinist regime that has brutally murdered thousands. They heard no calls for an end to the dictatorship in hopes of a democratic transition. Our families saw only polite handshakes and a condemnation of the U.S. trade embargo meant to – yet again – present the dictatorship as a tiny David pitted against its gigantic Goliath to the north, La Yuma. Where is the compassion for the long-suffering Cuban people? How is it possible that the Cuban Bishops Conference could perpetrate a betrayal as complete as offering a “vote of confidence” ‘to newly installed “President” Raul Castro, a man who oversaw the purges that wiped out thousands of innocent men, women and children during the revolution and the opening years of its newly formed government? How could that body express support for a pre-planned transition meant to preserve a half-century-old dictatorial dynasty? The Vatican itself exercises its own form of democracy under the Papal Conclave system. Why should we, the Cuban people, be denied that same right?
For those reasons and many more, it is time to condemn the Vatican in the strongest of terms. In tacitly supporting a regime with so much blood on its hands, the Vatican is no longer ethically or morally capable of carrying on in its self-perceived role as God’s messenger on Earth to hundreds-of-millions of Catholics. The administration of Pope Benedict XVI has chosen to ally itself with the armies of evil, turning its back on the teachings of Christ the philosopher and in effect, on its own followers.
This pontificate has shattered its sacred covenant with God and must answer for its sins. As such, do Catholics owe any allegiance to the Vatican aristocracy? I think not. Catholic church-goers worship God the Father and Christ, his son, not a human being and administration that sees fit to condemn my beloved family members to lives of misery under one of the most oppressive dictatorships ever to have been spawned in this hemisphere.
For the time being, the Vatican no longer represents the teachings of Christ. Until such time comes when the Catholic Church’s highest office is able to stand up unequivocally to tyranny across the globe, this status will remain and those of us calling ourselves Catholics will be shepherdless.
UPDATE: In the interest of fairness to the controversey surrounding Pius XII's behavior during the Second World War, readers should refer to my posting of last week regarding Bertone's then-impending visit. There are two sides to the Pius coin and readers should take this into account.
Posted by at February 27, 2008 10:22 AM
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Comments
Think the article is right on about Lucrecia however as to Pius XII some say he really help Jews and others survive the Nazi terror. Aside from that what the article is "right on" when it condemns the Catholic Churches attempts to cooperate with Raul
Posted by: Larry Daley ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 27, 2008 10:42 AM
Larry,
Indeed, there are two sides to the coin on Pius. My previous posting on this subject, from about a week ago - pointed that out. In the interest of fairness, I'm going to take your suggestion and post a link to that posting at the bottom of this entry.
Many thanks,
-AB
Posted by: CubaWatch at February 27, 2008 10:45 AM
As a former Catholic who does not see the Catholic Church as God's messenger period. I must still say that this article communicates very much political truths. Well said. I hope current Catholics take it to heart.
Posted by: pototo at February 27, 2008 10:55 AM
I guess Catholics can be called protestants these days, as the church gets further and further from true Christianity, the Coming of Jesus gets nearer.
Saint Paul wrote about it and said "the apostasy must come first and then He would return", so here is the Apostasy.
Posted by: Peter Perez at February 27, 2008 12:19 PM
You had to wait till this week to be disenchanted? I thought Cardinal Ortega was enough. Marx was right once it comes to the Church in Cuba - it is the opiate of the masses. I am a proud Catholic but its behavior in Cuba for the most part has been nothing short of shameful.
Posted by: theCardinal at February 27, 2008 12:21 PM
AB:
Thank you
Larry
Posted by: Larry Daley at February 27, 2008 02:48 PM
Very well said! BRAVO!
Posted by: KMendiola at February 27, 2008 05:15 PM
Larry's right. I'm a Protestant but I have to come to Pius XII's defense too.
He got a really bad rap from revisionists -- in addition to saving many, many Jews, he made radio addresses and was even quoted many times in the NY Times shortly before WW2 and in its early days protesting the Nazis. People who buy the whole "Hitler's Pope" line point to his "silence" in the later years of the war, but you have to remember that in Fascist Italy and later with the Germans running the place, everyone who didn't agree with Hitler was "silent", and not voluntarily.
Posted by: Zhangliqun at February 27, 2008 08:04 PM
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