VATICAN CITY (Dec. 25) – The Vatican will review its security procedures after a woman involved in a 2008 attempt to rush Pope Benedict XVI jumped a barrier in St. Peter’s Basilica during Christmas Eve Mass and knocked him down, the Vatican spokesman said Friday.
Benedict, 82, wasn’t hurt and delivered his traditional Christmas Day greetings in 65 languages from the loggia overlooking St. Peter’s Square. While a bit unsteady at first, he also delivered a short speech about the world’s trouble spots without problem.
The incident raised fresh questions about security for the pontiff, however, after officials said the woman involved had jumped the barrier at the 2008 Midnight Mass in a bid to get to the pope. She even wore the same red-hooded sweat shirt.
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The Vatican identified the woman involved in Thursday night’s incident as Susanna Maiolo, 25, a Swiss-Italian national with psychiatric problems who was immediately taken to a clinic for treatment. Efforts to obtain further details on Maiolo’s background were unsuccessful, with Vatican and hospital officials citing privacy laws.
In the 2008 case, the woman never managed to reach the pope and was quietly tackled by security. During Thursday night’s service, the pope’s attacker launched herself over the barricade as Benedict processed down the aisle at the start of Christmas Eve service. As security guards wrestled her to the ground, she grabbed onto Benedict’s vestments, bringing him down with her.
Posts Tagged ‘Catholic Church’
The Pope Attacked During Midnight Mass
by WrathofG-d ( 20 Comments › )Filed under Crime, Religion, World at December 25th, 2009 - 12:12 pm
President Infanticide
by bar ( 130 Comments › )Filed under Barack Obama at March 8th, 2009 - 1:07 pm
A proposed bill promising major changes in the U.S. abortion landscape has Roman Catholic bishops threatening to close Catholic hospitals if the Democratic Congress and White House make it law.
The Freedom of Choice Act failed to get out of subcommittee in 2004, but its sponsor is poised to refile it now that former Senate co-sponsor Barack Obama occupies the Oval Office.
A spokesman for Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the legislation “is among the congressman’s priorities. We expect to reintroduce it sooner rather than later.” FOCA, as the bill is known, would make federal law out of the abortion protections established in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade ruling.
A spokesman for Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the legislation “is among the congressman’s priorities. We expect to reintroduce it sooner rather than later.”
FOCA, as the bill is known, would make federal law out of the abortion protections established in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade ruling.
The legislation has some Roman Catholic bishops threatening to shutter the country’s 624 Catholic hospitals — including 11 in the Archdiocese of St. Louis — rather than comply.
(Hat tip: Psaturn)
Newly Reinstated Catholic Bishop Uses Catholic Doctrine To Defend His Anti-Semitism, and Deny Holocaust
by WrathofG-d ( 14 Comments › )Filed under Anti-semitism, Holocaust, Judaism, Religion at February 11th, 2009 - 12:05 pm
During an interview with Spiegel Online, Catholic Bishop Richard Williamson states that he is willing to once again review the historical evidence (which includes well known Anti-Semitic forgeries), but refuses to visit Auschwitz, or follow the Catholic principles of Vatican II which stated that all Jews throughout time should no longer be held personally responsible for the death of Jesus.
(For those who do not know, Bishop Richard Williamson is a member of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). In late January, Pope Benedict XVI decided to lift the excommunications of four members of the SSPX, Bishop Williamson among them. Just days prior to the retraction of his excommunication, Bishop Williamson said on Swedish television that he didn’t believe the Holocaust took place and said that between 200,000 and 300,000 Jews died in Nazi concentration camps instead of the commonly accepted 6 million. The resulting scandal has led to doubts about Benedict’s leadership of the Catholic Church, though Benedict last week demanded that Williamson recant his statements.)
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SPIEGEL: How can an educated Catholic deny the Holocaust?
Williamson: I addressed the subject in the 1980s. I had read various writings at the time. I cited the Leuchter report (eds. note: a debunked theory produced in the 1980s claiming erroneously that the Nazi gas chambers were technically impractical) in the interview, and it seemed plausible to me. Now I am told that it has been scientifically refuted. I plan now to look into it.
SPIEGEL: You could travel to Auschwitz yourself.
Williamson: No, I will not travel to Auschwitz. I’ve ordered the book by Jean-Claude Pressac. It’s called “Auschwitz: Technique and Operation of the Gas Chambers.” A printout is now being sent to me, and I will read it and study it.
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SPIEGEL: Your position on Judaism is consistently anti-Semitic.
Williamson: St. Paul put it this way: The Jews are beloved for the sake of Our Father, but our enemies for the sake of the gospel.
SPIEGEL: Do you seriously intend to use Catholic tradition and the Bible to justify your anti-Semitism?
Williamson: Anti-Semitism means many things today, for instance, when one criticizes the Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip. The Church has always understood the definition of anti-Semitism to be the rejection of Jews because of their Jewish roots. This is condemned by the Church. Incidentally, this is self-evident in a religion whose founders and all important individuals in its early history were Jews. But it was also clear, because of the large number of Jewish Christians in early Christianity, that all men need Christ for their salvation — all men, including the Jews.
SPIEGEL: The pope will travel to Israel soon, where he plans to visit the Holocaust Memorial. Are you also opposed to this?
Williamson: Making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a great joy for Christians. I wish the Holy Father all the best on his journey. What troubles me about Yad Vashem is that Pope Pius XII is attacked there, even though no one saved more Jews during the Nazi period than he did. For instance, he had baptismal certificates issued for persecuted Jews to protect them against arrest. These facts have been distorted to mean exactly the opposite. Otherwise, I hope that the pope will also have an eye and a heart for the women and children who were injured in the Gaza Strip, and that he will speak out in support of the Christian population in Bethlehem, which is now walled in.
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For the record, I do not hold all of Catholicism, or individual Catholics responsible for this Bishop’s comments. As a general rule I think quite fondly of Catholics, as I do most Christians. I am however exceptionally bothered, and distrurbed by this Bishop, his reinstatement, and what I see as a lack of overwhelming outrage by those of the Catholic faith and the Church.
