Pope Benedict XVI: "The Stench of Evil"

The Irish are rightfully angry at the Pope's newest apology for his priests raping their children – his holiness seems good at abject grovelling, but the Irish have noticed that the Pope forgot to kick any of his priests and bishops in the ass. The Irish might understandably want a few priests kicked forcibly out the door, but the Pope apparently forgot.

But if the latest allegations against the Pope himself prove true, things are going to get mighty interesting. It looks like the vicar of Christ on Earth himself was responsible for protecting the very priests who went on to commit some of these terrible crimes.

Did you know that a priest or bishop can be excommunicated for revealing a sex crime to law-enforcement authorities, but not for raping a child? Think about that: two men show up at the Pearly Gates. "Next! What's your sin?" "I raped a child, but I'm really sorry." "No prob, come on in. Next! What's your sin?" "I turned that last guy in to the police." "You jerk! Sinner! You traitor against Christ's own Church! Get out of here!! GOD WON'T FORGIVE YOU!"

And who do you suppose was responsible for this? Why, Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, the man who is now the Pope. According to an article in Slate by Christopher Hitchins, Ratzinger issued a confidential letter to all Roman Catholic bishops instructing them to maintain the strictest secrecy, "under penalty of excommunication."

I've accused Pope Benedict XVII of knowingly murdering Africans and Philippinos through his immoral beliefs on condoms, and of being a philosophical idiot for his stand on end-of-life care, and even of being a terrible CEO of a big corporation. But those were all crimes of omission or stupidity: his holiness is just clueless and following the party line.

These latest revelations are of a whole different magnitude. They show that Ratzinger isn't merely clueless and incompetent, but rather that he actively participated in, and may have even crafted, a policy that shielded pedophile priests from prosecution. Worse, Ratzinger's policies ensured that these pedophiles were allowed to continue having contact with children, while at the same time suppressing their criminal pasts so that parents had no clue, no way to protect their children.

That has the stench of Evil on it. If this doesn't bring Ratzinger down off his throne as Christ's representative here on Earth, then I hope the Roman Catholic Church dies a fast death with him at its helm.