Is liberal hypocrisy now emanating from the Vatican?
© Global Look Press/ Hauke-Christian Dittrich
An adviser of Pope Francis is campaigning against the mandatory introduction of crucifixes in all public areas across Italy, insisting an initiative put forward by Italy’s League party on Tuesday was tantamount to “blasphemy.”
Reverend Antonio Spadaro hit out at the bill, which was introduced for debate in the national parliament this week. He said during a press conference: “If you remove the (religious) symbolism from the crucifix … it becomes a parody.”
The hundreds of stories I have posted on my other blog about thousands, if not tens of thousands of pedophile priests who have sexually assaulted hundreds of thousands of children, just in the past 50 years, leads me to believe that the crucifix on the walls of Catholic institutions may be far worse than just parody - it may truly be sinister and blasphemous.
Earlier in the day Spadaro, who is editor of the Jesuit magazine ‘Civilta Cattolica,’ bluntly told the League to keep its “hands off” the crucifix in a tweet that went viral.
“The cross is a sign of protest against sin, violence, injustice and death. It is NEVER a sign of identity. It screams of love to the enemy and unconditional welcome. It’s an embrace from God without defences,” Spadaro tweeted. He has been regularly posting tweets backing his stance since then.
It is 'never' a sign of identity? - I think it is always a sign of identity. How could it be otherwise? This is why crosses and crucifixes were made mandatory in German classrooms and courtrooms recently. I did not see the Catholic or Lutheran churches complain about that.
The tweet was a tacit dig at the anti-immigration policies of Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and his League party. In recent weeks several rescue boats arriving from the Mediterranean with hundreds of migrants on board have been denied permission to dock at Italian ports.
While the right-wing League, which came third in this year’s national elections, rolls out its anti-immigration policies, Pope Francis continues to encourage countries to allow the entry of migrants.
How many has he invited to live in the Vatican? Anybody?
The latest move comes after Salvini hit back at critics who on Thursday likened him to Satan in a Catholic magazine. The cover of the popular weekly publication boasted a picture of Salvini and read ‘Vade Retro Salvini’ – a play on the words uttered by Catholic exorcists ‘Step back Satan.’
The bill being proposed by the League would see any public body found in breach of the proposed legislation being fined up to €1,000.
Interestingly, the Church criticized the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) when, in 2009, it banned introducing crucifixes in classrooms, saying the ruling was “wrong and myopic.” Instead it backed two decrees dating back to 1920s fascist Italy that mandated the placement of the religious objects in public schools.
The obvious reversal of positions from decrying the ultra-liberal ECHR ruling, to taking to the extreme of calling a right-wing politician Satan, is astonishing in just 9 years. It can only be attributed to Pope Francis.
One of the many ironic things about this story is that Salvini, among other things - like staving off bankruptcy, and trying to slow down rising crime rates, is actually protecting the Christian church - and in Italy that means the Catholic church, from an astonishing influx of Muslims.
Another irony is that those Muslims who are fleeing Muslim countries because of war and poverty are bringing Islam with them to infect Christian Europe. They escape Africa in hopes of a better life, but they bring the cause of much of their misery with them. Not all of their misery, Christian Europe bears much blame in leaving many African nations impoverished and hopelessly corrupt.
