Papal Fallibility & Ratzinger's apology.

Regardless of one's position on faith groups, comparatively recent concepts of world civilisation blocks, secularism, state & religious group relations - the importance of this last week's papal history can not quickly be underestimated.

Though I come to considering Ratzinger's personal apology for his anti-Islamic comments whilst on holidays in his native Bavaria from old fashioned anti-papist prejudice. Benedict XVI who wanted us all to consider his job as supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic church in the terms of the last war-time (WW1) pacifist "Benedict" has instead made history as the first pope to publically apologise.

& what a lame effort it was, as one nun lies murdered in a inter-religious sectarian attack in Africa & the Vatican city endures its highest level security alert since the mid 19th century.

That previous "hot period" was indeed when Pope Pius IX promulgated both the notions of Mary's blast-off into heavenly space & "papal infallibity" itself. The single most problematic teachings of the RC church for not only christian ecumenism, but also the freemasons whom he had described in the encyiclal "Qui Pluribus" (1849), as "men linked by evil union". For his troubles the Vatican was occupied by the French army & his funeral coffin was almost thrown into the Tiber on the night of July 12th 1881.

What is important now - is how Ratzinger's apology which follows 2 seperate & quite contrite apologies from the Holy See will be understood wherever muslims or their friends are to be found. An importance which now overshadows exactly what Papa Ratzi, the black pope, he who tied up the last mystery of Fatima - the german shepherd actually said in Bavaria.His "humble apology" put the "inverted commas" into an otherwise sweet as dishwater address to the ever dwindling faithful. The towering intellectual (who like his namesake & the author of this article) speaks a glut of languages & plays classical piano everyday to chill out forgot to remind his audience that when he sort of said "all muslims are mad mullahs and jihad is typical of Islam which only spread itself through the sword" , he was in fact quoting a medieval writer.

You knew that didn't you?
Oh! that's a medieval writer, Ratzinger is plagiarising went up the cries from little Hussein in the ashram to Johann Mengele waving the papal flag in the Bavarian square. His Holiness followed this clarification with the really pathetic disclaimer "but that's not my personal opinion" . Well, that makes everything alright doesn't it? If in future the pope wants to quote crusader propagandists he'll just need to use his fingers in the global "inverted commas" sign & then we'll know he's just an ultra-conservative but on the side of God's struggle all the same.

It has been a little over a month since another man first elected with as little democratic panache as Ratzinger first used the words "islamo-fascist" . G.W. Bush first used the term on the 10th of August, since when it has been recorded over a thousand times on network US TV and the sort of newspapers they read. Curiously that foray into "language" by Bush came just after he had apologised for "poorly thought out language & statements" in the previous 3 years. You remember surely?

"we are on a crusade"

I wonder when Joseph Ratzinger will get to saying ...........
........"bring it on "

Before anyone reminds us - the RC church clocked up more genocide in its worldwide expansion than any other world faith group. That's why so few people in South America look "pre-colombine Latin". Enough to turn you onto the Mormons indeed.

here endeth the lesson

+