Not quite the best way to manage one’s ‘news’.

I’ve been trying to think of the right word, and I think I’ve finally managed it – “stupefying”. This is in connection with Fr Cantalamessa’s remarks comparing the current criticism of the Roman Catholic church hierarcy with anti-semitism, this in relation to the on-going child-abuse scandals that are rocking the Roman Empire.

I don’t like to kick a man when he is down, and Fr Cantalamessa is clearly challenged on a wide number of fronts, including cerebrally.

The Catholic Church is in a totally indefensible position on the abuse front; the Pope himself is accused of failing to take action (always the easy course) in his earlier career when presented with clear evidence of wrong-doing.

No, the only possible reaction was to assume great humility and sorrow and issue grovelling apologies.  No doubt the usual politicians’ standby soundbite would not have gone amiss: “Lessons have been learned.”

I give  Fr Cantalamessa some credit for saying what he thinks instead of passing his comments through a gruesome PR spin merchant, but unfortunately he has got it completely wrong. And it’s no good the Vatican claiming that these remarks “did not represent its official view”. They were after all printed in full on the front page of the Vatican’s own newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano.”

As Peter Isely of SNAP (survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) put it much better than I could:

“They’re sitting in the papal palace, they’re experiencing a little discomfort, and they’re going to compare themselves to being rounded up … and sent in cattle cars to Auschwitz? You cannot be serious.”

Porr old Fr Cantalamessa should get out and about into the real world a bit more.  Someone should send him a copy of Mother Theresa’s biography or “Five Chimneys”

Has he seen “Schindler’s List”, even though what was shown there was extremely mild compared to the horror of the reality?

Sorry Fr Cantalamessa, you score nul points on this one ….

By Chris Snuggs