The Pope’s preacher today likened recent attacks on the Pope over Catholic child sex abuse and rape scandals to, the “most shameful acts of anti-Semitism”. Father Raniero Cantalamessa, who is preacher to the Pope's household, came as one Catholic Church went on the offensive to deflect mounting criticism of cover up. The Pope is preparing to make a major address to the world for Easter Sunday as the Vatican is fighting back.
Father Cantalamessa, said that this year the Jewish festival of Passover and Easter fell during the same week and that Jews throughout history had been victims of “collective violence” and compared current attacks on the Church over the scandal with Anti-Semitism.. Speaking at a ceremony in St Peter’s Basilica on Christ’s Passion, he read for the congregation that included the Pope, part of a letter he said had received from an "unidentified Jewish friend", who said he was following “with indignation the violent and concentric attacks against the church, the Pope and all the faithful of the whole world”.
“The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism,” Father Cantalamessa said his friend wrote to him.
Vatican officials are also desperately trying to shift the blame for the child abuse scandal engulfing the Catholic church away from the present Pope, onto the previous Pope John Paul II and the media in general.The Anti-semitic comments angered Jewish groups and those representing abuse victims.
Father Cantalamessa said Jews throughout history had been the victims of "collective violence" and drew a comparison with recent attacks on the Roman Church. Stephan Kramer, general-secretary of Germany's Central Council of Jews, described the remarks as offensive and repulsive. "So far I haven't seen St Peter's burning, nor were there outbursts of violence against Catholic priests, I'm without words. The Vatican is now trying to turn the perpetrators into victims.
Peter Isely, spokesperson for the US victim support group Snap, said the sermon had been "reckless and irresponsible, They're sitting in the papal palace, they're experiencing a little discomfort, and they're going to compare themselves to being rounded up or lined up and sent in cattle cars to Auschwitz?
"You cannot be serious." he siad.
Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, of the American Jewish Committee, called Father Cantalamessa's comments "an unfortunate use of language. The collective violence against the Jews resulted in the death of six million, while the collective violence spoken of here has not led to murder and destruction, but perhaps character assault," he said.
The Catholic Church has been inundated with fresh allegations of child sex abuse and rape by priests, most recently in Germany.The Pope is accused of failing to take action against an abuser during his watch, as archbishop of Munich, a claim the Vatican strongly denies. Critics say that when he was head of a Vatican office dealing with sex abuse, he refused to act against a US priest, who is believed to have abused more than 200 deaf boys. Critics are further demanding the Pope's immediate resignation.
Leading officials, politicians and newspaper editors in Israel, have
reacted angrily to the British government's announcement to expel the
head of Mossad in London, in response to Israeli arrogance and theft
of British passports, for use in the Dubai murder of Palestinian
Freedom Fighter Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
"I think the British are behaving hypocritically and I don't want to
offend dogs on this issue, since some dogs are utterly loyal," Aryeh
Eldad said, "Who are they to judge us on the war on terror?"
He added that Israel's "natural reaction should be to expel one of the
senior diplomats in the British Embassy, maybe the military attache or
someone on his level."
Eldad's political colleague from the same party, Michael Ben-Ari,
responded to the comment, saying, "The British may be dogs, but they
are not loyal to us, but rather to an anti-Semitic system, and Israeli
diplomacy partially plays into their hands. This is anti-Semitism
disguised as anti-Zionism".
One of Israel's leading newspapers complained, that the British
government’s lost moral compass, also explains its dire voting record
on the Goldstone Report which found Israel guilty of War Crimes
against the Palestinians. It further complained of Britain's abiding
failure to stop the use of its legal system for the purpose of
arresting Israeli politicians and military officers for War Crimes,
should they dare to set foot on British soil ever again. It further
complains of delays by Britain in following Israeli instructions to
amendits legal system back in December, after a London court issued a
warrant for the arrest of leader Tzipi Livni. The Livni affair was
preceded by the attempted arrest in 2005 of General Doron Almog,
former commander of Israeli forces in Gaza, and by the cancellation of
a trip to Britain by former Israeli chief of General Staff, Moshe
Ya’alon. The newspaper says the British move against Israel, was
coordinated with other countries, Germany, France, Ireland and
possibly Australia and may be the start of more similar action in the
future.
The Israeli's accept that it is a blow to their own arrogance at all
levels. Israel broke a promise given by Shimon Peres to Geoffrey Howe
in 1987, that British passports would not be used again for Israeli
intelligence operations or murders. William Hague, the foreign
secretary of the conservatives' shadow government who may replace
Miliband shortly, is the one who reminded parliament about the broken
Israeli promise to Britain.
The breach of trust alongside the normally close intimate,
intelligence cooperation, between Israel and Britain fanned British
anger at Israel, for the theft of British passports for a murder
committed in Dubai. Israel in so doing incriminated and exposed
Britain as its silent compliant partner in a lot of its activities,
dating back to the foundation of the state of Israel by Britain before
it was forced to withdraw.
The Israeli newspaper added that a British agent using an Israeli
passport to track down an IRA cell would not meet with much Israeli
sympathy, a subtle reminder of the help Mossad provided the British,
tracking down an IRA cell to Gibraltar, in which Maireid Farrell,
Daniel McCann and Sean Savage, Irish freedom fighters were summarily
murdered by the British, thus preventing further disclosure, after
being tracked there by Mossad. The massive theft of other countries
passports is a colossal breach of sovereignty, as it affects the
relationships and treatment of citizens travelling and working in
those countries, particularly the Middle-East. Dubai will no doubt pay
particular attention to British commoners in the future, as a result
of this particular Israeli activity. Irish people for example have
always been made most welcome in the Middle east, now as a result of
Israeli abuse of their Irish passports, they suddenly become suspect,
naturally all of the countries affected are very angry at perceived
Israeli arrogance and criminality in addition to its recent War Crimes
in Gaza.
The Israeli media claim the affair, offers a glimpse of the British
decision-making process and exposes the failures of Israel in the
murder.The incident shows that the British Secret Intelligence
Service, SIS or MI6, is answerable to the foreign secretary and
coordinates with him or his top deputies, operations that may affect
foreign affairs. MI5 on the other hand they claim answers to the home
secretary like the police. The prime minister has overall
responsibility with his office helping to coordinate intelligence.
That is the theory, the reality is that the politicos nominally answer
to the services and rubber stamp activities. As a result, were an
operation bungled in an MI6 operation, the foreign secretary would
resign or the home secretary, if there were a problem at MI5.
The government of Israel is hesitant to push Agent Dagan to resign, as
it would seem like an admission of Mossad's involvement in Mabhouh's
murder. The Israeli minister in charge of intelligence affairs, Dan
Meridor, is not held in high esteem in Israel. The opposition party
in Government however, is former Mossad agent Tzipi Livni, now the
head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Overall
responsibility lies with Netanyahu, who obviously did not check things
properly, nor weigh the risks and rewards, and eroded Israel's
diplomatic poor standing around the world even further, as result of
Israel's criminal activity in the theft of several western countries
passports and subsequent murder in Dubai, which was filmed in detail
from the outset.
Mossad offices in London, which normally works openly with British
agents in occupied Ireland for example, has been dealt a body blow to
its mission there, with the unwanted publicity and the head of the
mission expelled. Israeli media say Mossad control at Ben-Gurion
International Airport is infamous and the stigma of this bungled
covert operation, will have a ripple effect. Mossad head to be
expelled Dagan's predecessor, Ephraim Halevy, was actually born in
London.
The person who will be ultimately held responsible for this failure,
appears already to be the Israeli prime minister. The Israeli media
complain however, that Netanyahu never took responsibility and will
not likely do so now, neither is he facing an upcoming election like
Britain, where a perception of being friendlier to Israel, than
British intellectuals and journalists wish to see, post Gaza War
Crimes, as manifested with academic boycotts of Israel and planned
arrests of senior Israeli officials entering Britain. Should the
British government fail to respond to Mossad's criminal activity, it
could expect attacks in parliament and a backlash at the polls.The
Israeli's believe that it is the current British domestic political
environment, that has effected the move. It remains to be seen how
other European countries, Australia and Ireland react, to their
citizens considerable anger, at this Israeli behaviour post UN
International War Crimes guilty verdict against Israel.
