Pope condemns torture as affront to human dignity

Pope condemns torture as affront to human dignity


Associated Press
May. 27, 2004 08:20 AM


VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II condemned torture Thursday as an intolerable affront to human dignity, lamenting that reports of abuses "constantly arrive from all continents."

The pope made no mention of any countries or specific cases in his speech to seven new ambassadors to the Holy See.

On June 4, John Paul is scheduled to meet with President Bush, whose administration is under heavy criticism for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by the U.S. military at Abu Ghraib prison. Several Vatican cardinals have already assailed the abuse.

In his speech, the pope said that "disturbing news constantly arrives from all continents concerning the human rights situation, showing how men, women and children are tortured and how their dignity is profoundly offended, contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
(snip/...)

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0527VaticanTorture27-ON.html

Saying who should love whom.

since all we get are weak condemnations, but vote for someone who
supports abortion or gay marriage and they'll excommunicate you.

and well he should after the Altar boy scandals..

plenty of wayward priets are finding comfort in a 6X6 jail cell.

Can I go back to sleep now?

who are outraged by the outrage? Where is that sorry assed bishop now??

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Whoops! They wouldn't have jobs, either.

expects the Spanish Inquisition.

I agree that the pope's condemnation of torture is weak but, so far, he is the only the Christian leader I have heard condemn torture. Have any other leaders of Christian churches or any other Christian churches condemned torture?

bloward evangelists around, either, as in Falwell, Robertson, etc.

They have been associated with Efrain Rios Montt and others whose presidencies were responsible for unbearable, unpardonable massacres of innocent citizens:

(snip)......the State Department briefed Christian Right
leaders on the need for "private" support for the the Montt
regime. On the "700 Club" Robertson urged donations to
International Love Lift, an ongoing relief project sponsored by
Montt's U.S. shepherds from Gospel Outreach. Robertson also
successfully lobbied the Reagan administration to end the five-
year ban on military aid to Guatemala.

On January 8, 1983 the ban instituted by President Carter
for human rights reasons was lifted. That same day 350 U.S.
evangelicals set sail for Guatemala with a boat carrying $1
million worth of food, clothing, medical supplies, and housing
materials.

"The Gospel in Guatemala," a PBS documentary, revealed the
complicity of Gospel Outreach in the Guatemalan Army's
adminstration of camps for refugees from Rios Montt's brutal
counterinsurgency massacres of Mayan Quiche Indians.

By late 1983, Robertson shifted his attention to El
Salvador, where he interviewed President Alvaro Magana and
individuals connected with Salvadoran death squads. Robertson
returned about the same time that the Kissinger Commission made
headlines with recommendations for unprecedented levels of U.S.
aid to Central America. On the "700 Club" Robertson stressed that
the Magana government was getting a bum rap. He warned his
audience not to rely on the "biased liberalism" of Newsweek, Time
and U.S. News and World Report, while he praised death squad
leader Robert D'Aubuisson as a "very nice fellow."
(snip/...)

http://www.holysmoke.org/wb/wb0239.htm

"The United Methodist Church's bishops are urging the U.S. government to request help from the United Nations in establishing a transitional government in Iraq.

In a May 11 resolution, the Council of Bishops said it "laments the continued warfare by the United States and coalition forces" in Iraq, noting that the cycle of violence has led to the "denigration of human dignity and gross violations of human rights of Iraqi prisoners of war."

The bishops say they pray for military personnel and their families, and ask that United Methodists pray for peace.

The council also asks the U.S. government to "request that the United Nations become involved in the transition process to a new Iraqi government" and that a multinational development plan be started for rebuilding Iraq and other Middle Eastern nations."


http://www.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=2&mid=4730

I am glad that the United Methodists have spoken out against the torture of Iraqi citizens.

we should also apologize for that whole Inquisition thing. Our bad."

try to think of it as the Patriot Act of it's day ...

to withhold communion from any politician who has made comments that justify the torture... and to those who vote for those politicians?

Oh... I didn't think so...

On the other hand, Cardinal Law, well known pimp for all the pedophile
priests in Massachusetts just got promoted. So I guess that rape and and abuse of children is not a form of torture and can now be rewarded.

Sorry, nobody else has said it yet this thread, so I figured I had to chime in.

A thread about the Catholic Church without "REMOVE IT'S TAX EXEMPT STATUS"? Unthinkable!!!

It'd be almost like a story about the Pope rescuing 500 Iraqi children from a building daused with Napalm and nobody chiming in about "Well did he save the pedophile priests???"

Har har, Catholic bashing and religious intolerance is so much fun!

david

Wicked, I say.

Get thee to the Lord's house and repent. Now! Grovel to your master and savior for mercy and forgiveness. He levies judgement upon your ever act and all will be remembered for future consideration.

Repent! Reeeeeeee-peeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnt!

(edited, cause God deplores bad grammar. Forgive me, Lord. Please, forgive me...)

sexual abuse of altar boys.

Catholics say anymore, I see more hypocrites for Bush.

It's good to see that at least the Church has evolved away from it as a method of interrogation. Now if only the U.S. would follow suit.

The right wing supports torture and puts our troops in more danger by doing so.