Pope Rails Against the Internet and Transparency

tcd004 writes "At a conference on digital media at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI attacked the idea of transparency in the Internet age, warning that digital transparency exacerbates tensions between nations and within nations themselves and increases the 'dangers of ... intellectual and moral relativism,' which can lead to 'multiple forms of degradation and humiliation' of the essence of a person, and to the 'pollution of the spirit.' All in all, it seemed a pretty grim view of the wide-open communication environment being demanded by the Internet age."

Comments

The pope doesn't like us revealing "petty gossip"

[tomhudson]

... like that the Vatican has actively hidden pedophiles for decades that they were WARNED IN WRITING would re-offend

The letter makes it clear that the local priests would shut their mouths if the pedo was "given another chance" in Rome because that got him out of the local community:

When Fr. Prince was first proposed for his present position
in Rome (on the recommendation of the now Archbishop F. Franck), I
explained to the then Archbishop Jose Sanchez (now Cardinal Sanchez),
in his capacity as Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangeliza-
tion of Peoples, that, while the charge against Fr. Prince was very
serious, I would not object to him being given another chance since
it would remove him from the Canadian scene. (Archbishop Ambrozic
had already informed me that Fr. Prince was no longer welcome in the
Archdiocese of Toronto unless he underwent psychiatric treatment at
the Clarke Institute.)

... and the problems when it leaks out ...

However, the knowledge and extend of Fr. Prince's previous
activity is now much more widespread among both the laity and the
clergy than previously existed. Hence, were he to be honoured in
any way it could easily trigger a reaction among the victim(s), or
others who are aware of his previous conduct, and this would prove
extremely embarrassing both to the Holy See and to the Diocese of
Pembroke, not to mention the possibility of criminal charges being
laid and a civil lawsuit ensuing.

... and check this out ...

One redeeming factor is that it would appear that the victims
involved are of Polish descent and their respect for the priesthood
and the Church has made them refrain from making these allegations
public or laying a criminal charge against a priest. Had this happened
elsewhere there would be every danger that charges would have been
laid long ago with all the resultant scandal. Unfortunately one
priest, who was talking with one of the victims who partially revealed
Fr. Prince's activity while living with him in Ottawa, has been some-
what indiscreet in his comments about Fr. Prince, and has had to be
cautioned by the Vicar General in this respect. The priest in question
is also a good friend of the mother of one of the victims so he has
been able to glean additional information to confirm his suspicions
about Fr. Prince's activity and openly confronted the Vicar General
about his suspicions and knowledge.

Translation: "good thing they're just dumb pollacks, right? And we had to threaten another priest to keep his dumb mouth shut or else ..."

But they still wanted to give the guy ANOTHER promotion ...

However, as previously mentioned, a promotion of any kind
would indicate to the victim that he is being further victimized
and hence we could anticipate that a charge would be laid and a
public trial would follow. This has been the pattern which has
been followed in recent events of a similar nature and it is a
situation which we wish to avoid at all costs.

All in writing, all documented, so it's not "petty gossip" and the Nazi Pope can go sod off!