Satan is behind the media attacks on the Pope

From the Catholic News Agency.  This did not come from The Onion, National Lampoon, or some other parody site.  It came from the Catholic News Agency, in the year 2010, about 300 years after Isaac Newton came up with the Laws Of Motion and 40 years after we put a man on the moon.  We stopped treating people for demonic possession about 250 years ago, and I think we're better people for it. 

Rome, Italy, Mar 31, 2010 / 11:47 am (CNA).- Noted Italian exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, commented this week that the recent defamatory reporting on Pope Benedict XVI, especially by the New York Times, was “prompted by the devil.”

That would explain soooo many things about The New York Times, wouldn't it? 


Speaking to News Mediaset in Italy, the 85-year-old exorcist noted that the devil is behind “the recent attacks on Pope Benedict XVI regarding some pedophilia cases.”

The devil is not behind the attacks.  Priests got behind some 12-year-olds.  The Pope got behind the cover-up.  There's your problem, Gabriele. 

“There is no doubt about it. Because he is a marvelous Pope and worthy successor to John Paul II, it is clear that the devil wants to ‘grab hold’ of him.”

I'm not going to make any bad jokes about priests who "grab hold" hold of little boys.  But think of how many centuries this has been going on, and what happened when kids complained about things like this in the past.   

Father Amorth added that in instances of sexual abuse committed by some members of the clergy, the devil “uses” priests in order to cast blame upon the entire Church: “The devil wants the death of the Church because she is the mother of all the saints.”

Well, when an organization demands both celibacy and chastity from its all-male leadership, what do they expect?  Seriously, can there ever be good results from that policy (which, as far as I can tell, was a fairly late development in the Catholic Church)?  Has it ever been different than this?  Was there ever a Golden Age of priestly good conduct? 

“He combats the Church through the men of the Church, but he can do nothing to the Church.”

The exorcist went on to note that Satan tempts holy men, “and so we should not be surprised if priests too … fall into temptation. They also live in the world and can fall like men of the world.”

Ditto for Presidents, Popes, City Councilmen, and Prime Ministers.  Therefore, we should be wary of giving them any more power and control over our lives than absolutely necessary, right?