Putting Down Catholic Pat Downs

Saw this over at the BLOGGER WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED‘s blog (hi Jim! … damn, I let it slip), and it couldn’t go without comment.

The blogger in question comments on a news report claiming that Vatican’s crime rate, at least for minor crimes, is the highest of any city. With only 527 residents there were 171 prosecutions by the city’s prosecutor, the vast majority of which were for petty crimes like pickpocketing. A lot of suspects, however, “flee to Italy”.

The UNNAMED ONE concludes: ”That’s both disheartening and unsurprising all at the same time…  The moral of the story?  Pat down your visitors, they’re probably criminals.” The visitors? One wonders what they consider “serious crimes”.  The brief news report includes this:

It has also been announced that Vatican’s measures aimed against money laundering were more strict than those in Italy, and that the pope last year set up a “financial information service” aimed at cooperating with other states and tracking movement of money.
The service is expected to start work in April of this year.

Notice the cooperation about money, but recall that only a little while ago we read about the demand issued by a Vatican official in 1997 that Irish clergy NOT cooperate with officials investigating clerical sexual abuse.

Found at Bambi's BlogAssSphere

A newly revealed 1997 letter from the Vatican warned Ireland’s Catholic bishops not to report all suspected child-abuse cases to police — a disclosure with the potential to fuel more lawsuits worldwide against the Vatican, which has long denied any involvement in coverups….

To this day, the Vatican has yet to endorse any of the Irish church’s three major policy documents since 1996 on reporting suspected child abuse to civil authorities. In his 2010 pastoral letter to the Irish people condemning pedophiles in the ranks, Pope Benedict XVI faulted Ireland’s bishops for failing to follow canon law and offered no explicit endorsement of child-protection efforts by the Irish church or state.  (CBC, Jan. 18, 2011)

Father Frank was hoping that after patting down would-be pickpockets at the Vatican for a while he could get his own congregation.

Pat down the visitors because they are probably criminals? The Church’s more serious crimes involve covering for clergy accused of patting people down inappropriately (and lets not forget how many priests helped escaping Nazis flee). They certainly don’t need more incentive to put their grubby hands on people!

Found at spicewriter.wordpress.com