Pope Lashes Out at Belgium After Raid on Church

[groovedaddy]

ROME — In a sign of sharply rising tensions between the Vatican and Belgium, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday criticized as “surprising and deplorable” a raid on church property last week by Belgian police officers investigating sexual abuse by clerics.

In an exceedingly rare personal message and rebuke of a sovereign country, the pontiff also stressed the church’s “autonomy” to conduct its own investigations and criticized the “deplorable methods” of the Belgian police, who detained bishops, confiscated files and even drilled into the tombs of at least one cardinal in the Cathedral of Mechelen, north of Brussels, in a search for documents.

“On several occasions I have personally reiterated that such serious issues should be attended to by both civil and canon law, with respect for their reciprocal specificity and autonomy,” Benedict said in a statement circulated by the Vatican on Sunday.

He also expressed his “closeness and solidarity” with the Belgian clergy and André-Joseph Léonard, the archbishop of Belgium and the president of the Belgian Bishops’ Conference.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/world/europe/28vatican.html?th&emc=th

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. The church is above the law..and has proven itself to be a sooo very good at

"policing" its own.

"the pontiff also stressed the church’s “autonomy” to conduct its own investigations"

[groovedaddy]

3. The Church did investigate. They identified the pedophiles then moved them to a different parish.

That's justice, isn't it?

[BrklynLiberal]

4. Guess for the church that is the definition.....

[Angry Dragon]

2. Unless the church feels that abuse is part of their religion

This steps over into secular law and the church is treated just as any other entity.