Bishop Williamson is worse than previously thought. He’s a 9/11 Truther, violently homophobic, anti-modernist, thinks women should not go to colleges or wear pants, in addition to being a Holocaust-denier.
From Andrew Sullivan, a gay Catholic
And the Pope who decided that celibate, faithful gay men cannot be allowed into seminaries has now opened the doors of reconciliation with this filth. It tells you everything about who Benedict is and what his priorities are. And what the Catholic Church is becoming under his leadership.
I was raised Catholic. It seems to me there is something deeply twisted at the heart of the Vatican now. I have a cousin who is a dedicated parish priest. He does immense good and has built a joyful, multi-ethnic congregation that does outreach to all. He is to be commended.
But the political Catholic Church (and all institutions have a political aspect) has never dealt with the obvious institutionalized nature of their pedophile priests and now it seems clear Benedict wants to head back to the political Dark Ages.
Jesus was criticized for eating with tax collectors. They were “filth” too.
This is not entirely about Williamson. This is about getting the people who follow these bishops back into the fold, and to do that.
Lifting a penalty doesn’t mean you agree with everything the person says or does, no more than letting a guy out of jail means that you like his opinions or behaviour.
He was excommunication for breaking with the communion, not for his opinions.
Benedict is a political creature. He’s sending a message.
“It seems to me there is something deeply twisted at the heart of the Vatican now.”
I thought there always was and will always be, its history is not nice reading. This has nothing to do with the individuals who go about their lives doing some good.
Perhaps yet another example of the need to evolve beyond the need for adolescent fairy tales to explain away the dark? Better still, evolve out of the dark…
Coincidentally, I wrote a post over the weekend on why it’s so difficult to move beyond religion. http://www.asymptoticlife.com/2009/01/25/religion-and-context.aspx.