Reply With QuoteAll I can say is that for/in the Vatican it is better to rape a child than to expose dirty secrets.
The Pope's Butler
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...6441802&page=2Vatican Documents Leaked: Did Butler Paolo Gabriele Do It?
By JEFFREY KOFMAN (@JeffreyKofman) and PHOEBE NATANSON
May 28, 2012
He is always at the Pope Benedict XVI's side.
Butler Paolo Gabriele helps the pope dress in the morning and serves him his meals through the day.
But now the pope's loyal butler is under arrest, accused of betraying the man he serves by leaking embarrassing confidential Vatican documents to the Italian media.
The arrest has stunned the Vatican, a place familiar with intrigue, but not public betrayal by someone so close to Benedict.
"The fact that this came from somebody who was in the papal apartment and a member of the papal family is great cause for a crisis of consciousness," John Allen of U.S. National Catholic Reporter said.
The butler's lawyer, Carlo Fusco, released a statement today that Gabriele was willing to cooperate and that he trusted the Vatican judicial system.
The embattled pope is said to be deeply "saddened" by the arrest of one of his closest aides.
But many people remain skeptical about the accusations leveled at Gabriele. Few believe he would have had the sophistication to orchestrate a series of leaks that have consumed the Italian media since January.
Marco Politi, Vatican journalist and author of a Benedict biography called "Crisis in the Papacy," told ABC News he believes that if the accusations are true, Gabriele did not act alone.
"If it happened, there are others helping him and maybe leading him," he said.
Today's newspapers in Rome say that Gabriele was just a messenger and that there is a network of Vatican insiders behind the leaks and that a so-far unnamed cardinal is orchestrating it all.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi "categorically denied" that any cardinal was involved. He said many Vatican officials were being questioned in the investigation but "there is no one else under investigation at the moment."
Lombardi called the unsourced reports in the Italian media "pure fantasy."
In a cloak and dagger twist right out of a Hollywood thriller, a "deep throat" who claims to be inside the Vatican network spoke anonymously and nervously to Rome's La Repubblica. The interview was printed in Monday's paper.
"Whoever is doing this is doing this to support the pope," the insider told La Repubblica, "because the aim of the network of conspirators is to bring to light the rot within the church in the last few years."
The insider said there are warring factions within the Vatican, as some are out to destroy powerful Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state.
Bertone is the second-most powerful man in the Catholic Church, responsible for the Vatican but also for overseeing the church around the world. His critics say he is too weak to lead the church.
But the insider said others within the Vatican believe it is Benedict himself who is too weak and that he has allowed Bertone to accumulate power and that he is not qualified for such a demanding job.
The leaked documents began appearing in the Italian media in January.
They expose alleged corruption, mismanagement and deep internal divisions at the Vatican. One document detailing corruption was addressed to Pope Benedict personally.
"Money is always involved," La Repubblica's source said. "There are also economic interests in the Holy See."
Many of the leaked documents focus on money laundering and kickbacks at the secretive Vatican bank.
The head of the bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was appointed by the pope to clean up the bank and he reported directly to him.
But in yet another blow to the pope's influence, his friend was fired Thursday.
The insider told La Repubblica that when Benedict XVI heard the news, "he started to cry 'for my friend Ettore.'"
The now-disgraced butler began his life at the Vatican as a cleaner.
He rose to the rank assistant butler under Pope John Paul II and has been at Benedict XVI's side since 2006.
Gabriele lives with his wife and three children inside the Vatican walls in an apartment where the secret documents were allegedly found. So far he has been only been accused of theft.
Because there is no prison inside the Vatican walls, Gabriele is being held in a room inside the tiny Vatican police station.
He faces trial in a closed Vatican court and if convicted he could go to jail for up to 30 years.
Under a treaty between the Vatican and the Italian government, anyone convicted of crimes by the Vatican serves his sentence in an Italian prison.
Conspiracy and intrigue are nothing new to the Vatican, but traditionally the Vatican has been adept at keeping it inside the walls of the city-state.
Sexual abuse revelations by priests around the world continue to discredit the church.
In 2006, shortly after becoming pope, Benedict quoted text that inflamed Muslims around the world. He was forced to apologize.
The pope faced demonstrators Sunday accusing the Vatican of covering up evidence in the mysterious 1983 disappearance of the young daughter of a Vatican employee once thought to be buried in the tomb of a mafia don.
Asked whether all this means the pope has had a bad week, Vatican reporter Marco Politi said, "he's had a bad seven years."
Okay, so we have a butler, once regarded as "devout" and "a member of the family", now as "a Judas", who might be the hero or the villain, depending on who you ask...
Serving a weak and suspicious pope who is gradually losing control...
To a Powerful Cardinal who is at the center of a ring of corruption, and is thought to be power hungry and manipulative.
Throw in Vatican security recruited from intelligence agencies, secret trials, and an intrepid reporter reviled by his peers in the media.
I think I've seen this movie.
Last edited by The Mad Monk; May 31, 2012 at 14:44.
"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work...After eight years of this Administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started... And an enormous debt to boot!" — Henry Morgenthau, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Treasury secretary, 1941.
All I can say is that for/in the Vatican it is better to rape a child than to expose dirty secrets.
"Ceterum censeo Ben esse expellendum."
But, I thought the Vatican can never do wrong.
I am angry because someone in line in front of me at Subway ordered a sandwich that I do not like, even though it has no effect on me. This is how arguments against equal marriage rights sound.
The butler did it? Dang, I was thinking it was Professor Plum in the Library with the Candlestick...
1011 1100
This is exactly one vampire away from being an anime.
"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work...After eight years of this Administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started... And an enormous debt to boot!" — Henry Morgenthau, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Treasury secretary, 1941.
Abel Nightroad is already on the case.Originally Posted by The Mad Monk
I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio
The important point to take away from all this.All I can say is that for/in the Vatican it is better to rape a child than to expose dirty secrets.
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
I'm confused, this is a thread about Catholics and Ben hasn't made an appearance yet..
It's Sunday morning. He's with the little boys.
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
Can we not do this, please?
"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work...After eight years of this Administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started... And an enormous debt to boot!" — Henry Morgenthau, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Treasury secretary, 1941.
If that ****er can come here and post lies about me personally (apparently with impunity) then I think fair is fair.
I don't like having to quote him (and never do) but he left me little choice when he lied about me. I was forced to take a **** bath.
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
Really? So you go into threads he hasn't posted in yet to troll him? Classy.
"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work...After eight years of this Administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started... And an enormous debt to boot!" — Henry Morgenthau, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Treasury secretary, 1941.
So be it. I didn't start this **** - He did.
Her deserves every ounce of abuse he gets.
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
Have fun rolling around in the **** then.
"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work...After eight years of this Administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started... And an enormous debt to boot!" — Henry Morgenthau, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Treasury secretary, 1941.
Welcome to Poly eh?
If the site cared he would have been banned long ago.
If the posters cared he would have been shunned long ago.
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
He has been shunned; just not completely so.
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So far, all I've read is that the Butler was found to have some personal papers. No where have I read of what's so bad in those papers that make this such a big thing. Do they contain evidence that the pope is gay, or that he was a child diddler? Has anyone heard what the contents were that would be so damaging to justify the press that it's gotten.
The OT at APOLYTON is like watching the Special Olympics. Certain people try so hard to debate despite their handicaps.
Baron O RIP.
From what I read a while back, it's good, old fashioned graft. Favortism in the selection of companies for contracts, in exchange for kickbacks. Coverups. That sort of thing.
"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work...After eight years of this Administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started... And an enormous debt to boot!" — Henry Morgenthau, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Treasury secretary, 1941.
I'm surprised we're not hearing more about that. Especially the coverup aspect.
The OT at APOLYTON is like watching the Special Olympics. Certain people try so hard to debate despite their handicaps.
Baron O RIP.
We just went through a financial meltdown where the banks were so openly and unashamedly crooked that the idea of some old school graft and kickbacks just sound positively quaint.
If so, why are they making the Butler look like the criminal of the century over here?
The OT at APOLYTON is like watching the Special Olympics. Certain people try so hard to debate despite their handicaps.
Baron O RIP.
In order for the actual story to be glossed over, you have to go on full offensive on the scapegoat over something else. Kind of basic damage control.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
- John 13:34-35 (NRSV)
I was thinking Alucard, myself.
"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work...After eight years of this Administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started... And an enormous debt to boot!" — Henry Morgenthau, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Treasury secretary, 1941.
Alucard never worked for the Vatican.
I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio
I never said the vampire did.
"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work...After eight years of this Administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started... And an enormous debt to boot!" — Henry Morgenthau, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Treasury secretary, 1941.
I'm sorry. Mentioning anime in reference to the Vatican made me think of Trinity Blood. Alucard references would require throwing in the Church of England.I never said the vampire did.
I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio
Very minor. The only significant CoE involvement I can think of is in A Certain Magical Index. Which hints at vampires, but never shows any. It does include a great deal of nun punching, which may make up for it.
"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work...After eight years of this Administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started... And an enormous debt to boot!" — Henry Morgenthau, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Treasury secretary, 1941.
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