"You Devil, Jew!" Vatican Blames Jew-Devils for Pope Missteps

New York Times. The Vatican and its PR team have beed putting a lot of effort into ducking the mounting accusations of mishandling of abuse reports by church officials that included the then future pope. Rather than beginning to heal the damage that pedophile priests have inflicted around the world, they have preferred to point fingers and (unsuccessfully) avoid shame. This Passover week, Vatican has gone "old-school," taking a page from the good ol' blood libels of Christians past.



In recent statements quoted by the Catholic News Agency, Father Gabriele Amorth, asserted that American reporting casting doubt on the pope's rigor in dealing with pedophile priests, was “prompted by the Devil.” “There is no doubt about it,” said the man Maureen Dowd calls "the chief exorcist for the Holy See." With Pope Benedict being the "marvelous pope" that he is, "it is clear that the Devil wants to grab hold of him.”




In his Good Friday service lat week, the preacher of the papal household compared the current criticisms of the church to the atrocities that the Nazis perpetrated against the Jews. Speaking to an audience that included the Heilige Tatte himself, The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa,  said that he was thinking about the Jews during this season because “they know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms.” 


Apparently, the preacher forgot his own church's implication in the "collective violence" that he's been thinking about of late. He also seems to have missed the irony in his trying to borrow sympathy from the Jews in the face of Italy’s La Repubblica's reports that “certain Catholic circles” have been  that “a New York Jewish lobby” was responsible for the outcry against the pope

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But before we Jews gloat too much, let's not forget the bi'ur chametz (purging one's home from forbidden bread before Passover; symbolic of soul searching and repentance) that our own leaders have yet to do. Hopefully, a glimpse at how silly the "other side" comes off looking will turn up the heat (be a pitch-fork in the rear?) and push us all—leaders and critics alike—toward stepped-up action.