Thursday, September 08, 2011

German website calls Pope Benedict XVI "anti-human" and "anti-democratic."

Already, two weeks before his official visit to Germany, Pope Benedict XVI is being attacked by Christianophobic individuals and groups in Germany.  A new German website titled "Der Papst kommt" - The Pope is coming - has been created.  This website touts itself as the "Alliance against the inhumane gender and sexual politics of the Pope."

In its resolution, Der Papst kommt states: Besuch von Papst Benedikt XVI. In Deutschland Breites Bündnis protestiert gegen die menschenfeindliche Geschlechter- und Sexualpolitik des Papstes. Im September 2011 besucht Papst Benedikt XVI. Deutschland. Dabei spricht er auch vor dem Deutschen Bundestag in Berlin. Dagegen protestieren wir. Der Papst steht für eine menschenfeindliche Geschlechter- und Sexualpolitik. Sie grenzt Menschen aus und diskriminiert.

Wir wenden uns gegen den Papst als einen der Hauptverantwortlichen für die Unterdrückung von Lesben, Schwulen und Transgender auf der Welt. Auf internationaler Ebene kämpft der Vatikanstaat Seite an Seite selbst mit brutalen Diktaturen gegen die Menschenrechte von Lesben, Schwulen und Transgender. Die Entscheidungen demokratisch gewählter Parlamente zur rechtlichen Anerkennung gleichgeschlechtlicher Paare schmäht Joseph Ratzinger als „Legalisierung des Bösen” und ruft Katholiken zum Widerstand auf.

Wir kritisieren die Missachtung der Rechte von Frauen, die der Vatikan in seinem Kampf gegen Gleichberechtigung und Selbstbestimmung an den Tag legt. Gerade die sexuellen und reproduktiven Rechte von Frauen werden, z.B. durch das Verbot von Schwangerschaftsverhütung und -abbruch, deutlich negiert.

Wir verurteilen die Sexual- und Kondom-Politik des Papstes. Sie behindert in vielen Ländern massiv wirksame HIV-Prävention, stürzt Menschen in schwere Gewissenskonflikte, verdammt sie zu Krankheit und nimmt ihren Tod damit billigend in Kauf.

Wir protestieren gegen die demokratiefeindliche Politik von Papst Benedikt XVI., der die freiheitliche Gesellschaft eine „Diktatur des Relativismus” nennt. So hat er z.B. die Pius-Brüder wieder in die Kirche aufgenommen, obwohl sich in deren Reihen Holocaust-Leugner finden, sie die freiheitliche Demokratie ablehnen und die Strafbarkeit gleichgeschlechtlicher Beziehungen fordern.

Diese Kritik wird von vielen gläubigen Katholikinnen und Katholiken geteilt, die wir einladen, unseren Protest zu unterstützen.

Den Bestrebungen des Papstes, die eigenen Dogmen zur staatlichen Norm anderer Länder zu erheben, setzen wir unseren Widerstand entgegen.

Die menschenfeindliche Geschlechter- und Sexualpolitik von Papst Benedikt XVI. darf nicht unwidersprochen bleiben. Wir rufen alle Menschen zum friedlichen Protest in Berlin auf." (See here).

The main points of this resolution in English:

"The Pope is anti-human...We oppose the Pope as one of those most responsible for the oppression of lesbians, gay men and transgendered in the world.  At the international level, the Vatican is fighting side by side even with dictatorships against the human rights of lesbian, gay and transgendered people..We criticize the disregard for the rights of women..especially the sexual and reproductive rights of women, for example, by banning contraception and abortion..We protest against the anti-democratic policies of Pope Benedict XVI, who calls the liberal society a 'dictatorship of relativism.'"

 The irony here is astounding.  For as Pope John Paul II reminded us in Centesimus Annus, "Authentic democracy is possible only in a State ruled by law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person. It requires that the necessary conditions be present for the advancement both of the individual through education and formation in true ideals, and of the 'subjectivity' of society through the creation of structures of participation and shared responsibility. Nowadays there is a tendency to claim that agnosticism and sceptical relativism are the philosophy and the basic attitude which correspond to democratic forms of political life. Those who are convinced that they know the truth and firmly adhere to it are considered unreliable from a democratic point of view, since they do not accept that truth is determined by the majority, or that it is subject to variation according to different political trends. It must be observed in this regard that if there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activity, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism."

Authentic Christians have always and everywhere accepted a "healthy pluralism." At the same time, such Christians have also understood that they have an obligation to acknowledge their beliefs and to preach the moral message given to them by the Lord Jesus. The follower of the Lord Jesus possesses a qualified certainty regarding the tenets of Natural Law and other truths which are revealed by God and help guide the conduct of man. Consequently, the authentic Christian understands that Christian ethical principles inform human society.  Secular Humanists and those committed toward advancing the radical homosexual agenda have their own agenda and will do everything in their power to censor the Christian view. 
The authentic Christian [or any person of good will] will reject the sophism of those who declare that anyone who does not buy into the Dictatorship of Relativism (a pluralism of opinions which rejects any and all absolute truth or even its possibility) is a "fanatic" or a "fundamentalist." On the contrary, such people will defend the truth in a positive manner. And while respecting persons and living out charity, they will proclaim the truth without fear.

This is the mind of Christ. As Pope John Paul II taught us in his Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, No. 95:

"The Church's teaching, and in particular her firmness in defending the universal and permanent validity of the precepts prohibiting intrinsically evil acts, is not infrequently seen as the sign of an intolerable intransigence, particularly with regard to the enormously complex and conflict-filled situations present in the moral life of individuals and of society today; this intransigence is said to be in contrast with the Church's motherhood. The Church, one hears, is lacking in understanding and compassion. But the Church's motherhood can never in fact be separated from her teaching mission, which she must always carry out as the faithful Bride of Christ, who is the Truth in person. As Teacher, she never tires of proclaiming the moral norm... The Church is in no way the author or the arbiter of this norm. In obedience to the truth which is Christ, whose image is reflected in the nature and dignity of the human person, the Church interprets the moral norm and proposes it to all people of good will, without concealing its demands of radicalness and perfection...

In fact, genuine understanding and compassion must mean love for the person, for his true good, for his authentic freedom. And this does not result, certainly, from concealing or weakening moral truth, but rather from proposing it in its most profound meaning as an outpouring of God's eternal Wisdom, which we have received in Christ, and as a service to man, to the growth of his freedom and to the attainment of his happiness."

Although I'm a Frenchman, I was born in Germany and I have a high regard for the German people.  They are in my prayers.  I believe they will see Der Papst kommt for what it is: an exercise in anti-Catholicism and intolerance.


The image above speaks volumes about Der Papst kommt. 

8 comments:

  1. Why don't you drop dead!

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  2. Stewart10:15 AM

    Increasingly we are witnessing hostility toward orthodox Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular. Soon the "tolerant" regime of Secular Humanism will call for Christianity to be outlawed altogether. The Bible will be declared hate speech and anyone who is opposed to homosexuality on moral grounds will be declared a criminal.

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  3. Anonymous10:27 AM

    You people need to be re-educated into the ways of modern culture. Your homophobic bigotry will not be tolerated in the future. You are correct. Perhaps jail time is what you need to reflect upon your weary and out-of-date philosophies.

    Sometimes a guy marries a guy. Get over it!

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  4. ACatholicinClinton11:21 AM

    Anonymous, you are confusing love with lust. Marriage is between a man and a woman. And God is the Author of marriage. This is why Pope John Paul II, protesting a special resolution of the European Parliament encouraging the countries of Europe to approve of "gay marriage," said that, "What is not morally acceptable, however, is the legalization of homosexual acts. To show understanding towards the person who sins, towards the person who is not in the process of freeing himself from this tendency, does not at all mean to diminish the demands of the moral norm..But we must say that what was intended with the European Parliament's resolution was the legitimization of a moral disorder. Parliament improperly conferred an institutional value to a conduct that is deviant and not in accordance with God's plan...Forgetting the words of Christ 'The truth shall set you free' (John 8:32), an attempt was made to show the people of our continent a moral evil, a deviance, a certain slavery, as a form of liberation, falsifying the very essence of the family." (Angelus Address, February 20, 1994).

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  5. "You people need to be re-educated into the ways of modern culture"

    Re-education, like in the former USSR, with psychiatric clinics intended to dissenters? Here is what some among the leftist heralds of the Democracy are wishing to those who are opposing their views.
    No, thanks, Mr Popov, we have no use of YOUR democracy.

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  6. The Pope IS anti-democractic. Surely the debate is whether or not that is a good thing?

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  7. Stewart10:58 AM

    The Holy Father is not anti-democratic. But like his predecessor on the Chair of Peter, he believes that, "Authentic democracy is possible only in a State ruled by law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person."

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  8. Right Stewart. In a speech to the Italian Christian Workers' Associations, Pope Benedict XVI said that, 'fidelity to democracy alone can guarantee equality and rights to everyone." This shows that the Pope is NOT anti-democratic.

    But it must be remembered that Pope Benedict XVI also spoke these words at the White House back in April of 2008: "..a democracy without values can lose its very soul...Democracy can only flourish, as your founding fathers realized, when political leaders and those whom they represent are guided by truth and bring the wisdom born of firm moral principle to decisions affecting the life and future of the nation."

    So anonymous is being ridiculous in saying that Pope Benedict XVI is "anti-democracy."

    Foolish!

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