According to a Bishop, why the Jews of course. A mini-firestorm has erupted over the comments and the Bishop has denied them:
A furious transatlantic row has erupted over quotes that were attributed to a retired Italian bishop, which suggested that Jews were behind the current criticism of the Catholic church’s record on tackling clerical sex abuse.
A website quoted Giacomo Babini, the emeritus bishop of Grosseto, as saying he believed a “Zionist attack” was behind the criticism, considering how “powerful and refined” the criticism is.
The comments, which have been denied by the bishop, follow a series of statements from Catholic churchmen alleging the existence of plots to weaken the church and Pope Benedict XVI.
Allegedly speaking to the Catholic website Pontifex, Babini, 81, was quoted as saying: “They do not want the church, they are its natural enemies. Deep down, historically speaking, the Jews are God killers.”
The interview was spotted on Friday by the American Jewish Committee, which said Babini was using “slanderous stereotypes, which sadly evoke the worst Christian and Nazi propaganda prior to world war two”.
On its website, the American Jewish Group Committee quoted bishop Vincenzo Paglia, an official at the Italian Bishops’ Conference, as saying Babini’s remarks were “entirely contrary to the official line and mainstream thought of the Catholic church”.
NOTE TO THE BISHOP IF YOU MADE THESE COMMENTS: We don’t have time for that. We’re too busy controlling Hollywood, all of the banks, the Internet, the comedy industry, planning to all move to Israel, and ensuring that places that serve our cherished Jewish holy food — Chinese restaurants — thrive.
For instance, right now I have to finish this post and tell top left, right and center bloggers what to post and link to, give marching orders to Bill Gates, instruct the State Department on its daily tasks and statements for tomorrow, and tell Rupert Murdoch what stories to run and broadcast. Oh: Babs Streisand wants me to pull some strings to get her a new concert deal.
What’s a busy Jew to do?
So sorry: we don’t have time on this one.
The church deserves all the credit on this one itself.
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.