Anyone who has read - in the bible, The gospel according to St. Matthews Chapter 23, that Matthew had very little respect for those "Scribes and Pharisees" and if you read through that chapter, you will probably recognise that the Pharisees are many of those hierarchy in the religion, and this could very include the Pope and others.

How perfectly the Pope passes on the teachings of Jesus is the subject of various opinions. However everyone knows that if the Pope debated Jesus he would be out of a job. The crux of it is that people hate the Pope for expounding orthodox Christianity (even though he has no choice) and want to argue that Jesus was a friendly feel good hippy who hung out with sinners in approval of their behaviour and the Pope and any Christians who subscribe to orthodox Christianity are bad and not following Jesus. Whatever! Get over it. Noone can be a Pope and preach current fads in secularism so stop wasting your time.

Runner,

Thank you. As a Catholic I appreciate you pointing these things out because you are one of the few contributors in here with a sense of fairness and justice but it seems to fall on deaf ears.

Fingers are firmly planted in the ears of those subscribing to anti-Catholicism. It doesn't matter that many groups publically support paedophiles while the Catholic Church condemns them. It doesn't matter that there have been virtually no problems identified since the 80s. It doesn't matter that the Pope keeps expressing remorse, vowing to sweep the filth and demonstrating his committment to do so. Anti-Catholics want the Church torn down and controlled by the State supposedly so it can be "cleaned out by the law". This is to prevent the (hand on heart) current problems of rampant paedophilia, crusading, inquisitioning and witch burning.

Blimey mjpb... I had no idea the Pope supported witch burning! Still?

I knew the Vatican used to stoke the fires of hate, burning witches and Anglicans alike (well, why not eh? Anglicans were never 'real' Christians were they?) but I had no idea He still supported it.

Nor crusading and inquisitioning (sic).

Still, that's why I sign in to OLO, to learn new things.

Now, mjpb, which 'groups' support paedophiles?

Please name them... where are they... who are they?

I certainly don't recall any poster here supporting them, at all.

mjpb

As you know I am no fan of Catholicism. I do however detest the dishonesty and imbalance of the media when it comes to Catholic bashing. The good voluntary charity work (compared with the secular Government funded work) is very impressive and overlooked by church haters. To pretend that child sexual abuse is more prevalent in the Catholic church than it is in general society is a gross misrepresentation of the truth. The denialist who refuse to acknowledge the clear link between the porn industry and child abuse are dishonest or very naive. I also applaud the Catholic church for its stand against the slaughter of the unborn. They are one of the few groups with the courage of convictions and decency to stand against the barrage of secular dogma. I appreciate your kind words.

Funny enough when I suggest repeat child molesters should be castrated, whether Catholic Priests or artist or community elders those claiming they love these children suddenly much go silent. All people should be treated equally under the law. Just as those who covered up abuse in Catholic and judges and pollies abusing should also be dealt with accordingly.

The Blue Cross,

The Catholic Church never did support witch burning and in Europe were the ones to stop it. It just gets thrown in with other things because there was only one denomination in those days so anything that went wrong is labelled Catholic. As early as the 5th Century it was clearly held by a Synod that anyone accusing a person of being a witch is rejected by the Church until they recant. My understanding is that the first time it flared up the issue was raised at an Inquisition and the governing body held it was a hoax and ordered people not to discuss witches. A later resurgence resulting from a King refusing to abide by the Church's ruling had Friedrich Spee von Langenfield, a Jesuit priest, being instrumental in ending it.

But a recent post used middle ages stuff and other almost exclusively historical bad stuff which the Church (or a tiny proportion in some cases) was to a greater or not at all degree involved with as an excuse for denigrating the Church and taking secular control

"Now, mjpb, which 'groups' support paedophiles?"

Those in the artistic and entertainment industry who protect child molestors. Noone in this thread has supported them. Runner cited it as an example.

Runner,

Thanks.

"Funny enough when I suggest repeat child molesters should be castrated, whether Catholic Priests or artist or community elders those claiming they love these children suddenly much go silent. All people should be treated equally under the law. Just as those who covered up abuse in Catholic and judges and pollies abusing should also be dealt with accordingly."

I read something from a police officer with an interesting idea. He said that child molestors should have part of their anatomy nailed to a heavy object in a wooden barn with a large knife left beside them. The barn is then to be set on fire giving them a choice. That wouldn't be a Christian approach but one can understand why he would suggest it.

mjpb... I confess to knowing nothing of witches, so have resorted to wikipedia for a look to compare your brief account with what it says.

Do read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trials_in_Early_Modern_Europe_and_North_America

It seems to me that the church was up to its armpits in this. There is too much to cover, so a read is required.

I saw Runners take, I thought you, and he, might have been referring to something more organised than that.

I suppose in a world where people advertise, and others respond to those ads, for a person to cook and eat, there should be no shocks.

I hope there is not some sort of National Rifle Association for 'child sex', with lobbyists and frontmen saying it is just a 'way of life' that needs to be understood, based on some ancient myths and practices passed down through geberation to generation.

Then again, I do live in RARA land where incest seems to be a feature, along with lots of other sex related crimes.