Can't wait til HippieWizard learns about the existence of a body called "the United Nations", headed by a dignitary called "the Secretary-General". Given his concerns about (a) covering up child rape, (b) wasting money, and (c) coddling countries with repressive anti-gay laws, I'd say his head will explode.

VERY funny...........

Laurie you have sod-all right to complain about the cost. Catholics pay taxes too.

james,i agree with you 100%,these middle class oiky little left wing bigots who hide under the cloak of false concern for the victims of child sex abuse just wanna make me puke all over my cornflakes,remember this crowd are the same lot who go outside the isreali embassy with there socalist workers partys placards(WE ARE ALL HAMAS NOW !!) and spit and curse and join forces with there islamic extremist mates anjem choudary and co at the troops returning home parades from afghanistan well protected by the police from a beating from the freinds and relatives of these brave lads who serve are country,you left wing troglites and morons need good kick up your scruffy backsides and understand we are sick of your bigotary and hatred towards catholics.

ermmm, just a question, need an answer, are the only people that hate the pope all from the middle class. I see that word being chucked around as if outside the middle class everyone is an enlightened catholic who is in love with the pope.

..and Stuart you have issues, why do you bother reading a story written by someone who is quite clearly left wing, what were you expecting from what is a left wing website, you really are a moron mate, may I suggest spectator or the daily mail, or do you just like trolling lefty sites.

Also loving that spiked link, I love that site its the best spoof news site, better Then The Daily Mash. Oh right yeah, its not a spoof site, its for real. Quality story to, it proves there wasn't 10,000 children raped, Infact only just over 1,000 allegations of child rape where made, only 1,000. Phew that’s alright then. Turns out they where just fondling, verbally abusing and exposing themselves to the children, those crazy priests. What will they get up to next.

you middle class poncy arsewipe hippie wizard,ur about as much as a anarchist as i am a nick cleggs politacal advisor,ok you want to rebel against your middle class lifestyle in your boring middle class leafy surburb but waving a protest the pope placard does not exactly make you the new che guevara,i bump into you posh white socalist workers types every day with ur ridculously looking dreadlocks and i tell you what you would not last 5 minutes living in the inner citys areas in london or anywhere else in the uk with ur socalist revolution bullshitt.bet ur daddys a banker ha ha.

Just Passing By-nothing to do with the content of your message per se...but what exactly is trolling? Is it posting on a website where it's likely that most of the contributors will disagree with you? I'm genuinely curious.

In the west of scotland-where I live-the majority of anti-catholic opinion isn't middle class: it's concentrated among knuckledragging rednecks from the Orange Order.

I think there's a lot of middle class antipathy to the pope/RC church because he/it represents a hierarchical, authoritarian (I'm not using that word in a pejorative sense, only in it's purest sense) tradition, and I think that's anathema to a load of smug, spoilt, watered-down socialists.

@Stuart

If you are genuinely sick then step away from the keyboard and make a nice cup of tea. I think you need a break!

@Lox
Yup, that's trolling. And it's interesting to see Paisley and Dawkins saying much the same thing.

I went to observe events on the Friday outside Westminster Abbey, and Unionists and Atheists were chanting 'no pope' together. Not good.

Thanks for the explanation, Hans. Dawkins and Paisley are equally dogmatic, and equally predictable, and they're both preaching to a small number of the faithful. It's kind of ironic that atheism as practiced by Dawkins is showing such levels of orthodoxy and intolerance-almost a cult...

George Stephenson
401 S. Park Ave. #C-3
Aztec, New Mexico 87410
(505) 258-0037
onemale@live.com

To whom it may concern:
I am writing this letter to the Pope and all Catholic priests. I call on you in the name of human decency to go to the nearest police station and volunteer for a lie detector test. Answer the question: Have you ever molested a child? The church holds itself above the rest of us in their imagined moral superiority. Well, here’s a chance to demonstrate it! This is the very LEAST that the Catholic Church could do to restore the trust and faith of billions around the world. Don’t let pride stop you. Show us this righteous humility you’ve lorded over our heads for two millennia. In the name of simple decency I implore you: Go now, or don’t darken our doors with your nonsense ever again. Thank you.
Sincerely,
George Stephenson

Write to the Pope at: benedictxvi@vatican.va

@SamB..so i expect you will be marching against the religion of islam who hangs gays from cranes in iran,force young girls to marry at the age of 11 in pakistan,oppresses women all over the world,yes when is your march against this religion???

Lox, what's a Scottish redneck. And how did their necks get that color. Are you sure they were not Orangenecks?

Hi Stuart, there is no life of riley in American prisons. I do agree that to have executed her with the trigger pullers watching TV is ridicules. You’re probably against the death penalty. I am not. She was mentally deficient somewhat but what she knew what she was doing. IMO they should have had all 3 doing the rope dance. I guess we can agree to disagree on this one my friend.

Cheers, Matt.

Ahhhh the last few comments. T'internet is indeed a weird and wonderful place.
George Stephenson should probably be locked up for his own good and Stuart and Buckskins could well be the same spotty kid with one hand on his dick and the other playing World of Warcraft.
But back to the point. There was no point to this article other than saying it didn't achieve much. What did you expect?

Des that was not the point of the article bud.

Oh, and on the "institutional child-rape" charge - this:

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/9548/

Seems to me the Pope apologists are playing the same false predjudice card as Israel apologists do.

I intensely dislike the state of Israel, and the attitude that led to its formation. So do my Jewish friends. To say that Zionism and Judaism are the same thing is racist and ethnocentric.

I intensely dislike the Catholic Church, I dislike the views of the Pope, and I dislike the idea that this sad little man is supposedly infallible. He, by covering up child rape, is as morally reprehensible as the rapists themselves. I have no problem, however, with individual Catholics. I may disagree with them, or think they are indoctrinated, and challenge them when they actively oppress women, LGBT people and ethnic minorities, but I do not dislike them simply for being Catholics, as religious sectarians do.

Other than anything else, Ratzy hardly loves his neighbour as himself. Look at his wealth, when poor people starve. Jesus, being as he was probably a decent sort of chap, would be PISSED.

hey buckskins bud,i am not against the death penalty far from it,i am in the hang them high brigade for child killers and terrorist murdering scum,but this case involving teresa lewis does bother me a tad and i think life in prison with no parole would of been my option if i was the sentencing judge and the other 2 gits in prison now should of been the ones getting a jolt from old sparky.

James, how about finding some opinions of your own?

"Yet where 3,553 of the individuals claimed to have been touched over their clothing and 3,981 to have been touched under their clothing, a smaller number claimed to have been subjected to what is described in the report as ‘penile penetration or attempted penile penetration’, that is rape or attempted rape; 990 boys and 213 girls made this allegation – a total of 1,203 individuals, not 10,000."

Ah well, then that's ok then...

HippieWizard, that's extremely generous of you to have no problems with individual catholics and I'm sure they're intensely grateful for your indulgence.

The worst thing about the anti-pope protests has been the pure smugness and self-congratulatory nature of a lot of those taking part. There's little philosophical or metaphysical analysis of why the catholic church believes what it does: why does the church believe abortion is wrong? Is there a balance at any point between a woman's reproductive rights and the rights of a foetus to develop? If the former predominate, then is there an implication for society's wider perception fo the sanctity of life? Those are questions worth analysis-but the liberal left hides behind slogans and chants.

And perhaps you can explain how the church oppresses ethnic minorities? Or was that just a very stupid thing to say? As far as oppression of LGBT people is concerned...any gay catholic-and I've known a few-has a choice. Compromise their sexuality, or leave the church. Most have decided to do the latter, and I think I would probably do the same: my point is, HippieWizard, that it's a matter of individual choice and conscience. Something the left seems to have a problem with.

Those incidents happened on Ratzinger's watch, like it or not.

Why an earth you Furedistas are defending Ratzinger, the guy who declared the Marxist Elements of Lineration Theology as a Heresy and co-operated with right-wing governments in South America in eliminating it, is beyond me.

http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/ratzinger/liberationtheol.htm

What do you guys actually believe in nowadays apart from a vague form of libertarianism?

Hippie Wizard, I luxuriate in wealth while other live on less than a dollar a day. So do you. What are you going to do about it?
The church has a commitment to social justice. A good friend of mine is involved with a Jesuit school in Kenya where the children of Aids orphans are given a high school education equivalent to what they'd get in a developed European country. The school is supported solely by the catholic church: would you like to go ther and explain to the children there that they're being brainwashed?

When was the last time you did something that had that kind of impact on people's lives?

watch your big gob des demona.

The truth is that the British people, especially the middle classes, have no idea how to throw a good demonstration. They are just too polite, pussy footing, scared to offend.
For Christ sake, it was a PROTEST! Why didn't they PROTEST properly, with WIT and ANGER?? Not stupid jokes and confusing messages.
For a good protest, I suggest some one goes over to France to see how it is done!
Laurie: Excellent article. Again, I agree with every word.
But too many morons ( or is there just one?)are spoiling the flow of the debate.

Living in Glasgow it's nice to see that the Orange Order is expanding it's client base.
I've got used to seeing the lumpenproleteriat marching against the pope over the last 50 years, nice to see the Guardianistas doing the same.

daniele,apart from being a hatefull bigot.you seem to of forgot the whole point of blogs on the net is for views to be challenged or would you prefer every left wing and right wing blog just to have clones on agreeing with each other in some big love in,now that would be boring and not democratic,so daniele open your mind up to there are others who have different opinions to you,is that to much to ask.