Sins and crimes are not synonymous. Sinners and criminals are not one and the same

Updated December 5, 2012 

The Catholic Church must now be called VCC Vatican Catholic Church because the Vatican and Rome are no longer synonymous - because Rome is a secular city of Italy - while the Vatican is the religious smallest "country", read our related article  http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/07/why-vatican-must-end-as-country-vatican.html

Read our latest article : Sacrament of Confession protects criminals and persecutes their victims http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/11/sacrament-of-confession-protects.html

May 8, 2010

Sins and crimes are not synonymous. “Sins” is a Vatican Catholic Church's word and theological concept while “crimes” is a secular word and society's reality. Sins are blamed on the Devil or Satan who tempted the Catholics’ first parents Adam and Eve to commit Original Sin while crimes are blamed on the criminals. Sins are forgiven by the Catholic Church while crimes are punishable in jail by secular law (secular means no God, no theology, doctrines and dogmas, no religious faith, no sacraments, no Mystical Body of Christ). Sinners are forgiven in 2 minutes by Catholic priests while criminals are tried in courts for hours and months or years by government judges. Sins are forgiven and forgotten while crimes are punished and commemorated and their responsible leaders are bounty hunted like September 11 and Osama bin Laden. (That is why we need a SNAP monument in Boston to remember and honor the victims of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army because the sins of pedophile priests-sinners have long been forgiven and forgotten by John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Cardinal Bernard Law and their Cardinals and Bishops cohorts who covered-up their pedophile sins).

Sinners and criminals are not one and the same. Sinners always go scot-free no matter how mortal their sins while criminals are jailed in prison for years. Sinners do not have to pay for their sins except with a short act of ‘penitence’ (usually a quick prayer) while criminals must pay for their sins either with money or their lives in jail. The mortal sins of sinners are free of charge and cost them nothing (they can kill and rape and be forgiven instantly by priests) while the crimes of criminals are costly and they must pay for them in jail.

Sinners are treated with the utmost “holy” respect and absolute secrecy by priests while criminals are tried in due process and in open courts and reported by the media. Sinners are anonymous and not identified and their sins are not specifiable and acknowledgeable to the public or to the police as encoded by Canon Law (sinners can kill and rape on and on and be forgiven as much as Christ said “70 X 7” and therefore pedophile priests kept on sodomizing children and Cardinals and Bishops condoned and covered-them up and children were always in harms way) while criminals are photographed, tagged and ID and their crimes are diagnosable and classifiable in CSI Crime Scene Investigation labs and published on television, the Internet and newspapers so that the public are warned and protected.

Sinners’ one and only recourse is the Catholic Church’s Sacrament of Penance which is the gratuitous 2-minutes “forgiveness” factory for Catholic baptized members only and their “penance’ is usually a quickie Hail Mary and the Act of Contrition prayer, and the Pope at the Vatican has the power to give instant Plenary Indulgences which is the total forgiveness for a lifetime sins and for all sins. On the contrary, criminals’ recourse is the legal system with costly lawyers and they are tried by justice court houses, and the Supreme Court and Justice Department of countries determine the nature of crimes and their punishment by monetary compensation to victims and/or jail time of criminals.

Sins are based on Scriptures and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and their forgiveness are measured according to the words of Jesus and Catholic “Fathers of the Church” or ancient theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas and are easily absolved by Catholic priests who studied theology for years in seminaries. Crimes are based on the country’s Constitution and United Nations Charter of Rights and they are reinforced by judges and litigated and defended by lawyers who studied for years in law universities.

Sins cause the ‘separation of sinners from God’ and ask for “Divine grace” which is freely and always given only by the Pope and Catholic priests. Crimes are the harms done to people and properties and ask for “human justice” and separation from society in jail – for the safety of society. (To err is human, to forgive is divine” is pathetic Catholic jargon)

Compare these Catholic sinners and secular criminals

Sinners & criminals - Victims - Responsible Leaders

Pearl Harbor - 3,000 victims - 170 planes - Admiral Yamamoto

WTC & 9/11 attacks - 5,000 victims - 19 Muslims - Osama bin Laden

USA Priest Pedophilia - 12,000 victims - 6,000 pedophile priests - John Paul II & Benedict XVI & Opus Dei, the new Vatican Trinity

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Here are the Catholic quotes for sins – which is widely used to forgive all sinners and never send any of them to jail – with a quickie penance, the Catholic Church always make sinners go back to their usual daily life and routine whether they are serial rapists or serial pedophile priests:

Love the sinner but hate the sin

Let him who has no sin cast the first stone

The Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ

‘You are Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it’

The Pope is the representative of Christ on earth and he is infallible.

There is no salvation outside the Catholic Church


According to the American Tom Doyle, the Ryan and Murphy Reports of Ireland about the crimes of priest pedophilia, the only worry the Popes had been 'Would this damage the church?' Would it hurt the church’ and there was absolutely no concern for the safety and protection of the children. Most of all there was no attempt to separate pedophile priests away from children, instead they were transferred from one parish to another, from one country to another and so the pedophile priests went on performing ES Eucharist and Sodomy of Biblical proportions.

So now to our point, to prepare for the “historic apology’ of Benedict XVI with thousands of priests from around the world at St. Peter’s Square on June 19, the papal Vaticanistas are now writing about “sins” and citing Benedict XVI’s writings about sinners. Here is one of them.

See our related articles with reference to the sins of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army http://jp2army.blogspot.com/:

Who’s responsible & to blame: The Devil or Benedict XVI-Cardinal Ratzinger? Satan as scapegoat for Vatican's chaotic sex scandals http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/03/whos-responsible-to-blame-devil-or.html

‘Forgiveness’ is a gizmo of injustice to victims of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army. To Vaticanista chiesa.espresso Sandro Magister, Baloney! http://jp2army.blogspot.com/2010/03/forgiveness-is-gizmo-of-injustice-to.html

Spiritual healing, the Eucharist and the Rosary bring NEITHER JUSTICE NOR SAFETY FOR CHILDREN, the preys of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2010/05/spiritual-healing-eucharist-and-rosary.html

The French Revolution at the Vatican might start in England with the arrest of Benedict XVI led by the British Dawkins and Hitchens http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/04/french-revolution-at-vatican-might.html

Opus Dei female symbol for John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army http://jp2army.blogspot.com/2010/04/opus-dei-female-symbol-for-john-paul-ii.html

John L. Allen Jr of NCR is the Pied Piper of Benedict XVI toots “Will Ratzinger's past trump Benedict's present?” http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/03/john-allen-pied-piper-of-benedict-xvi_25.html

Penance is not justice; penitence is inequality to the lifetime suffering of victims of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/04/penance-is-not-justice-penitence-is.html

From Fatima, Jacinta would throw the first stone at John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army‏ to defend her little brothers and sisters http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2010/04/from-fatima-jacinta-would-throw-first.html

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May 8, 2010

Pope and Belgian bishops meet over sex abuse

VATICAN CITY
EITB (Spain)

Belgium's Catholic church has been rocked by recent allegations of abuse by paedophile priests and clumsy, slow handling of the cases by the bishops.

Pope Benedict XVI met at the Vatican with Belgian's bishops on Saturday, telling them their church was "tried by sin in these times," over the minor's abuse scandals.

Belgium's Catholic church has been rocked by recent allegations of abuse by paedophile priests and clumsy, slow handling of the cases by the bishops.

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Note about the Chiesa website of the article cited below, it says: “At the top of the page is a detail from the mosaics in the basilica of Saint Mary Major, Rome, fifth century” depicting the heavenly Jerusalem”.

Does this ring a bell? Cardinal Bernard Law, the criminal cardinal of Boston, is the Archpriest of St. Mary Major. Small or big coincidence?



News, analysis, and documents on the Catholic Church, by Sandro Magister, Rome


Holy, Yet Mingled with Sinners: The Church of the Pope Theologian
ROME
Chiesa

http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1343204?eng=y

The dispute over the sins of the Church rages on. Here's how Ratzinger, as a young professor, explained why "the divine so often presents itself in such unworthy hands." Page written more than forty years ago, but highly relevant

by Sandro Magister



ROME, May 6, 2010 – The article from www.chiesa one week ago on the concept of "sinner Church" has provoked lively agreement and disagreement.

Among those who disagree is Joseph A. Komonchak, a priest of the archdiocese of New York, historian and theologian, editor of the American edition of the "History of Vatican II" directed by Giuseppe Alberigo, and prominent author for the magazine Commonweal."

He writes:
*
Dear Sandro Magister:

In your recent post, you say that the present Pope has never made his own the idea that the Church may be said to be sinful. But in fact, in his Introduction to Christianity, written of course before he became pope he uses this language. He even speaks of Vatican II as having been too "timorous" in its statement that the Church is not only holy but sinful, "so deeply aware are we all of the sinfulness of the Church" (English Translation, p. 262). He is here following, I believe, the view of St. Augustine, repeated in St. Thomas Aquinas, that the Church will not be "without spot or wrinkle" until the End. Both great saints then cite 1 John 1: "If we sat that we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." And every day, the Church everywhere prays: "Forgive us our debts." Cardinal Biffi is correct on the use of the phrase "casta meretrix," but, of course, the issue is not settled by that matter alone. By the way, on at least one occasion, on a visit to Fatima, Pope John Paul II spoke of the Church as "both holy and sinful."

Sincerely yours,

Joseph A. Komonchak
*
Fr. Komonchak is correct when he cites John Paul II. On the first of his three trips to Fatima, the one in 1982, and in the first of the seven speeches that he gave in that city, he in effect said that he had come there "as a pilgrim among pilgrims, in this assembly of the pilgrim Church, of the living Church, holy and sinful."

But it must be noted that, in the vast volume of this pope's speeches, this is the only time in which the adjective "sinful" is found to be applied directly to the Church. A prudence that is all the more remarkable in that it was adopted by a pope who went down in history as the one who asked repeatedly and publicly for forgiveness for the sins of the Church's children.

Both for John Paul II and for his prefect of doctrine, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in fact, the formula "sinful Church" was seen as being dangerously misleading, because of its unresolved contradiction with the profession of faith in the "holy Church" found in the Creed.

Proof of this fear is in the note on "The Church and the faults of the past" published on March 7, 2000 by the international theological commission overseen by Ratzinger, as comment and clarification on the requests for forgiveness made by John Paul II during that jubilee year.

In it, there is a passage dedicated precisely to explaining why the Church "is also in a certain sense sinner," and to suggesting how to express this concept in terms that are not misleading.

It is the first paragraph of the third section of the note, dedicated to the "theological foundations" of the request for forgiveness:

*
"Hence it is appropriate that as the second millennium of Christianity draws to a close the Church should become ever more fully conscious of the sinfulness of her children, recalling all those times in history when they departed from the spirit of Christ and his Gospel and, instead of offering to the world the witness of a life inspired by the values of faith, indulged in ways of thinking and acting which were truly forms of counter-witness and scandal. Although she is holy because of her incorporation into Christ, the Church does not tire of doing penance. Before God and man, she always acknowledges as her own her sinful sons and daughters" (Tertio millennio adveniente, 33). These words of John Paul II emphasize how the Church is touched by the sin of her children. She is holy in being made so by the Father through the sacrifice of the Son and the gift of the Spirit. She is also in a certain sense sinner, in really taking upon herself the sin of those whom she has generated in Baptism. This is analogous to the way Christ Jesus took on the sin of the world (cf. Rom 8:3; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13; 1 Pt 2:24). Furthermore, in her most profound self-awareness in time, the Church knows that she is not only a community of the elect, but one which in her very bosom includes both righteous and sinners, of the present as well as the past, in the unity of the mystery which constitutes her. Indeed, in grace and in the woundedness of sin, the baptized of today are close to, and in solidarity with, those of yesterday. For this reason one can say that the Church – one in time and space in Christ and in the Spirit – is truly "at the same time holy and ever in need of purification" (Lumen Gentium, 8). It is from this paradox, which is characteristic of the mystery of the Church, that the question arises as to how one can reconcile the two aspects: on the one hand, the Church’s affirmation in faith of her holiness, and on the other hand, her unceasing need for penance and purification.
*

The paragraph just cited also recalls the passage in which Vatican Council II speaks of the sins of the Church's children. It is in paragraph 8 of the constitution "Lumen Gentium." Which again avoids defining the Church per se as "sinful":

"While Christ, holy, innocent and undefiled knew nothing of sin, but came to expiate only the sins of the people, the Church, embracing in its bosom sinners, at the same time holy and always in need of being purified, always follows the way of penance and renewal."

Then why did the theologian Ratzinger, in his 1968 "Introduction to Christianity," which is still the book of theology most widely read in the entire world, complain – as Komonchak recalls – that Vatican Council II was "too timorous" in speaking of the "sinfulness of the Church," of this sensation of which we are all "so deeply aware"?

The only way to answer this question is to revisit what Ratzinger wrote in that book, in the last chapter, which is dedicated to explaining why the Church is "holy" even though it is made up of sinners.

In effect, it is precisely in its relationship with the sin and "filth" of the world that the Church's holiness most shines. Written more than forty years ago, these arguments by Ratzinger are of stunning relevance. Including when they recall the meaning and limitations of the accusations brought against the Church, then as now.

Here are the main passages, taken from the final chapter of "Introduction to Christianity." Passages in which, once again, the formula "sinful Church" never appears.
_______________


"I BELIEVE THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH"

by Joseph Ratzinger

The holiness of the Church consists in that power of sanctification which God exerts in it in spite of human sinfulness. We come up here against the real mark of the "New Covenant": in Christ God has bound himself to men, has let himself be bound by them. The New Covenant no longer rests on the reciprocal keeping of the agreement; it is granted by God as grace which abides even in the face of man's faithlessness. It is the expression of God's love, which will not let itself be defeated by man's incapacity but always remains well-disposed towards him, welcomes him again and again precisely because he is sinful, turns to him, sanctifies him and loves him.

Because of the Lord's devotion, never more to be revoked, the Church is the institution sanctified by him forever, an institution in which the holiness of the Lord becomes present among men. But it is really and truly the holiness of the Lord that becomes present in it and that chooses again and again as the vessel of its presence – with a paradoxical love – the dirty hands of men. It is holiness that radiates as the holiness of Christ from the midst of the Church's sin. So to the faithful the paradoxical figure of the Church, in which the divine so often presents itself in such unworthy hands, in which the divine is only ever present in the form of a "nevertheless", is the sign of the "nevertheless" of the ever greater love shown by God. The existing interplay of God's loyalty and man's disloyalty which characterizes the structure of the Church is grace in dramatic form. [. . .] One could actually say that precisely in its paradoxical combination of holiness and unholiness the Church is in fact the shape taken by grace in this world.

Let us go a step further. In the human dream of a perfect world, holiness is always visualized as untouchability by sin and evil, as something unmixed with the latter. [. . .] In contemporary criticism of society and in the actions in which it vents itself, this merciless side always present in human ideals is once again only too evident. That is why the aspect of Christ's holiness that upset his contemporaries was the complete absence of this condemnatory note – fire did not fall on the unworthy nor were the zealous allowed to pull up the weeds which they saw growing luxuriantly on all sides. On the contrary, this holiness expressed itself precisely as mingling with the sinners whom Jesus drew into his vicinity; as mingling to the point where he himself was made "to be sin" and bore the curse of the law in execution as a criminal – complete community of fate with the lost (cf. 2 Cor. 5.21; Gal. 3.13). He has drawn sin to himself, made it his lot and so revealed what true "holiness" is: not separation but union, not judgment but redeeming love.

Is the Church not simply the continuation of God's deliberate plunge into human wretchedness; is it not simply the continuation of Jesus' habit of sitting at table with sinners, of his mingling with the misery of sin to the point where he actually seems to sink under its weight? Is there not revealed in the unholy holiness of the Church, as opposed to man's expectation of purity, God's true holiness, which is love, love which does not keep its distance in a sort of aristocratic, untouchable purity but mixes with the dirt of the world, in order thus to overcome it? Can therefore the holiness of the Church be anything else but the mutual support which comes, of course, from the fact that all of us are supported by Christ? [. . .]

At bottom there is always hidden pride at work when criticism of the Church adopts that tone of rancorous bitterness which today is already beginning to become a fashionable habit. Unfortunately it is accompanied only too often by a spiritual emptiness in which the specific nature of the Church as a whole is no longer seen, in which it is only regarded as a political instrument whose organization is felt to be pitiable or brutal, as the case may be, as if the real function of the Church did not lie beyond organization, in the comfort of the Word and of the sacraments which she provides in good and bad days alike. Those who really believe do not attribute too much importance to the struggle for the reform of ecclesiastical ritual. They live on what the Church always is; and if one wants to know what the Church really is one must go to them. For the Church is most present not where organizing, reforming and governing are going on but in those who simply believe and receive from her the gift of faith that is life to them.

This does not mean that everything must be left undisturbed and endured as it is. Endurance can also be a highly active process, a struggle to make the Church herself more and more that which supports and endures. After all, the Church does not live otherwise than in us; she lives from the struggle of the unholy to attain holiness, just as of course this struggle lives from the gift of God, without which it could not exist. But this effort only becomes fruitful and constructive if it is inspired by the spirit of forbearance, by real love.

And here we have arrived at the criterion by which that critical struggle for better holiness must always be judged, a criterion that is not only not in contradiction with forbearance but is demanded by it. This criterion is constructiveness. A bitterness that only destroys stands self-condemned. A slammed door can, it is true, become a sign that shakes up those inside. But the idea that one can do more constructive work in isolation than in fellowship with others is just as much of an illusion as the notion of a Church of "holy people" instead of a "holy Church" that is holy because the Lord bestows holiness on her as a quite unmerited gift.


The article from www.chiesa that gave rise to the dispute:

> Sinner Church? A Myth That Needs to Be Busted (26.4.2010)


The complete text of the note by the international theological commission dated March 7, 2000:

> Memory and reconciliation: the Church and the faults of the past
The latest three articles from www.chiesa:

3.5.2010
> The Big "Wager." How to Remake the Legion from Scratch
Maciel's offenses. The system of power that covered up his disgraceful life. The Vatican authorities are making accusations. And dictating the agenda for reconstruction. With full powers entrusted to a cardinal delegated by the pope

30.4.2010
> Passion of Christ, Passion of Man
This is the motto of the exhibition of the Shroud of Turin, underway in that city. The millions of pilgrims from around the world will be joined on May 2 by the pope. In conjunction, a major exhibit on the body and face of Jesus in art

26.4.2010
> Sinner Church? A Myth That Needs to Be Busted
The formula is more and more popular, but is foreign to the Christian tradition. Saint Ambrose called the Church "whore" precisely to exalt her sanctity. Which is stronger than the sins of her children

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COMMENTS: by PR

Vatican-gate is the new Watergate.

This is like watching the USSR collapse or the fall of the Berlin Wall.

While corruption, cruelty and deceit has been the hallmark of the Roman Catholic cult and its global theocratic imperialism why is anyone surprised by so called 'revelations' when after all it isn't as if this stuff hasn't always been the subject of chatter on the streets since the beginning?

I can't remember which one but an historical pope did state that the institution has made a fortune on the myth of Christ. FYI there is no archaeological evidence of Jesus Christ.

Christopher Hitchens and more recently Andrew Brown, Guardian,
(www.guardian.co.uk/.../pope-benedict-cardinal-bernard-law) UK have both asked why this current pope gave Bernard Law a cushy job in Rome and has yet to send him to face a grand jury in the USA. I have been trying to find out if the Italian and USA governments are complicit with the Vatican in standing in the way of Law facing the law in the US. Does anyone have facts on that?

The pope is scheduled to go on tour in the UK in September. I cannot fathom how this can proceed given that the Vatican and the man himself are the subject to a lot of allegations and the floodgates are open.

Hitchens: "The only worry [the Pope] had was 'Would this damage the church?' Would it hurt the church--not the children."

Hitchens offered more brilliant commentary on this topic on Real Time with Bill Maher last night, watch the video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/27/christopher-hitchens-cath_n_515657.html

People please try and think through religion for a minute here. None of it is rooted in truth. Those who pay dues to one of the monotheistic cults must accept that they are professing the science fiction myths and superstitions of ancient cave people. Isn't that a bit tacky?

Me paraphrasing Hitchens: 'Ratzinger is head of a political state, a church, is a spiritual leader of a big cult, is a proven protector of child abusers, isn't he wanted for the foulest crime of all? Can he continue to travel freely and land here or in any other jurisdiction?'

No one is born a Jew, Christian or Muslim; those antiquated, irrational beliefs are forced on defenseless children who are irritated without giving consent and indoctrinated. That is emotional child abuse and in a couple of the religions the stuff is re-enforced with a blood ritual of circumcision. It is therefore up to all of us to marginalize religion and abolish faith schools.