Fr. Marcial Maciel, poster boy for the bankruptcy of the Catholic church

Maxima Mea Culpa, is likely to reignite the debate among Catholics about the shameful, policies adopted by the Church for centuries (first cases came to light in the 4th century AD) in order to cover up rampant pedophilia in its ranks. To this day, despite numerous revelations, the church’s record is one of denial, obfuscation, and omertà.

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By Kevin Douglas Grant, The Global Post, February 15, 2013

Legion of Christ documents: Who was Father Marcial Maciel?

New documents offer insight into a sex scandal with connections to Pope Benedict just days after his resignation.

Mexican catholic Father Marcial Maciel celebrating the solemn Mass on August 15, 2005 in Rome. (-/AFP/Getty Images)

GlobalPost correspondent Jason Berry today published a story explaining the significance of a trove of documents ordered to be released Friday about Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the powerful, ultraconservative Legion of Christ. The documents are expected to illuminate the way in which the Legion handled accusations of rampant child sexual abuse and the siring of several illegitimate children by Maciel over several decades.

Here is a primer on Maciel and his relationships with Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II:

Who was Father Marcial Maciel?

Born in Mexico, the Roman Catholic priest founded the powerful, ultraconservative clerical order Legion of Christ in Mexico City in 1941. Dozens of victims in multiple countries made sexual abuse allegations against Maciel over the course of several decades, dating back to the 1950s.

Though he was suspended in 1956 from his leadership of the Legion by Pope Pius XII after being accused of abusing youths in Mexico, Cardinal Clemente Micara, the Vicar of Rome, reinstated him in 1958 after his predecessor’s death and Maciel enjoyed a long and prosperous career despite the claims of as many as 100 victims.

The Legion publicly apologized for Maciel’s alleged actions in 2009, just months after a new set of allegations emerged, including the fact that Maciel fathered several children during his reign as head of the Legion.

In 2010 the Vatican formally denounced Maciel for living a “life devoid of scruples and authentic religious meaning.”

How was Maciel tied to Pope John Paul II?

A man of great charisma, and the greatest fundraiser of the modern church, Maciel cultivated a relationship with John Paul II, using scenes of the two men in video-tapes that the Legion distributed to its growing base of benefactors. Maciel accompanied John Paul on papal visits to Mexico in 1979, 1990 and 1993, and in 1994 he was celebrated in “an open letter by Pope John Paul II celebrating Maciel’s 50th anniversary as a priest, appeared in major newspapers of Mexico City, as a paid advertisement, celebrating Maciel as ‘an efficacious guide to youth.’”

[Jason Berry, Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church (Crown 2011)]

In 1997 a Hartford Courant investigation by Gerald Renner and Jason Berry identified nine seminary victims of Maciel in on-the-record interviews. The Vatican refused to comment. In 1998, the ex-Legionaries filed a recourse in Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s tribunal seeking Maciel’s ouster. But John Paul continued praising him, and the canon law case went nowhere.

Juan Vaca, who left the Legion priesthood, was the first victim to accuse Maciel.

“If John Paul had acted on the allegations against Maciel that Juan Vaca detailed to the pope in a 1989 letter, in a request for dispensation from his vows as a priest, Maciel’s career would have been derailed…”

Vaca entered the Legion in Mexico in 1947, at age 10. Repeatedly abused by Maciel in Spain from age 12 through adolescence in Rome, the young priest went to Orange, Conn., as the Legion’s U.S. director. In 1976, when Vaca left the Legion, joining the Diocese of be Rockville Centre, Long Island, N.Y., he sent a blistering 12-page letter to Maciel, naming 20 other victims.

With support of Bishop John R. McGann, he sent the letter to the Vatican in a formal protest, which achieved nothing. With McGann’s support he petitioned the Vatican to punish Maciel again, sent via diplomatic pouch from the Vatican Embassy, without action. His final attempt in 1989, again through Vatican channels, included an impassioned cover letter to John Paul specifying what Maciel did.”

[Jason Berry and Gerald Renner, Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II (Free Press, 2004) and documentary by Berry: VowsofSilenceFilm.com]

“My dad told my mom that when John Paul II dies, he was going to be in trouble,” said Raul Gonzalez, who filed a lawsuit in 2010 claiming that he is one of Maciel’s children and alleging the late priest molested him beginning when he was 7 years old.

How is Maciel tied to Pope Benedict XVI?

A formal request for investigation submitted to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1998 was denied by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who went on to become Pope Benedict XVI.

A book published by three religious scholars last year alleges “that in 2001 Cardinal Ratzinger and his chief canon lawyer, Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, modified the statute of limitations in church law regarding sex with minors ‘retroactively in favor of the Legionary founder, and injuring the human rights and legitimate interests of us, his victims.’”

Ratzinger reopened the case in 2004, ordered an investigation of Maciel and was elected pope in 2005. In 2006 the Vatican dismissed Maciel from ministry to “a life of prayer and penitence.” He died in Jacksonville, Florida in 2008 without facing criminal charges. A year later the Legion disclosed that he had a daughter by a paramour from Mexico. Several months later two men came forward claiming to be Maciel’s sons by another woman. The Legion did not dispute their claims.

Establishing Dictatorships: Lessons from History

BY STEVEN JONAS, MD

Admiral Miklos Horthy of Hungary (left) is generally acknowledged to have been history’s first fascist dictator (that is an authoritarian ruler, operating under capitalism, who was not royalty). Following the overthrow of a Hungarian Communist government by Romanian royalist forces in 1919, with the acquiescence of his own King he was appointed “Regent” (for the King) in 1920. He held that post until he himself was displaced by the Nazis in 1944. Italy’s Benito Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister by the Italian King in 1922, and with the latter’s acquiescence by 1927 had become dictator of Italy. (He invented the word “fascism” to describe his form of authoritarian government.) So, we have two prominent fascist dictators in essence appointed by Kings. It may surprise you to learn that the most prominent fascist dictator of them all, Adolf Hitler, got to his position by more-or-less constitutional means, in a Republic, not a Kingdom.

Following the end of the First World War, an attempted German Communist revolution was thwarted by the combined forces of the ex-Prussian Army and various right-wing paramilitaries. With the cooperation of the right-wing of the German Socialist Party, the successors to the Prussian Hohenzollern Monarchy (the Kaiser having abdicated and fled to Holland), and other center and right-wing forces, established what came to be known as the Weimar Republic. (Weimar was a small provincial city in central Germany chosen as the new Republic’s capital.) Those forces created the first republican constitution for Germany out of whole cloth. The resulting Presidential/Parliamentary system governed Germany from mid-1919 until the Nazi coup d’état which took place in stages starting on January 30, 1933.

A key feature of what was called the Weimar Constitution was that it had a clause that granted the President emergency powers, which he could claim on his own authority, but under fairly strict control by the Reichstag (parliament). The President from 1925 onwards, the former commander of Prussian forces in World War, was Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg. Hindenburg claimed Constitutional emergency power in 1930 and ruled under it until he appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor (Prime Minister) on Jan. 30, 1933. Hitler then proceeded to establish what would become the state ruled by his National Socialist German Workers Party (the Nazis for short). (Clever name, eh? Like certain other folks, the Nazis had their own good namers and sloganeers.) Among his very first acts was to begin rounding up Communist Reichstag deputies and other leading communists and imprisoning them either without charge or on specious ones. But even with their enforced absence from the Reichstag, he still did not have the 2/3’s majority he needed to amend the Constitution. He wanted to enable the Reichstag to grant emergency powers to the Chancellor, as well as to the President.

Then came the Reichstag Fire of Feb. 27, 1933. Although it was actually set by a team sent by Hitler’s no. 1 deputy, Hermann Goering (1), it was a false-flag event (sound familiar?) Hitler blamed it on the Communists, and using documents later proved to be forgeries (the Communist leadership was shocked to see them) was able to stir up a major anti-communist hysteria in the nation. This situation eventually led to the passage on March 23 by the Reichstag of what was called the “Enabling Act of 1933,” (there having been others during the course of the Weimar Republic). This one, however, gave Hitler dictatorial power and the rest, as they say, is history. However, except for the fact that the Nazis cheated (if the Communist deputies had still been seated in the Reichstag, Hitler never could have gotten the 2/3rds vote he needed to pass the Act), the whole thing was “Constitutional.” Indeed Hitler made sure that the act was regularly renewed either by the Reichstag or eventually by himself, on the time schedule set during its original passage.

Among other powers, Hitler was able to arrest and imprison without charges or trial any German he labelled as a “threat,” or what have you. Having the parallel Army of the Schutz Staffel (SS, “Protection Squadron”) just going out and shooting perceived enemies or “members of an inferior race” in the street and etc., happened later. Further, I believe, although many Germans were sent to concentration camps and into the hands of the Gestapo (the “police” branch of the SS) direct execution happened only outside the borders of the German state.

You likely see where I am going with this. President Obama has apparently arrogated to himself, and through himself to the US Presidency, the power to arrest, and indeed kill, US citizens, on US soil, for “crimes” like “suspicion” of terrorism, “potential” terrorism, or “aiding and abetting terrorism” (2, 3). The next possible step is broadening that out to a total authoritarian government, based on “responding to terrorism” as defined by ??? Now the Democrats who find themselves behind this say words to the effect of “well, Obama can be trusted with these powers.” Maybe, maybe not. But nevertheless, what of a possible successor? And in any case, is any of this Constitutional? Well, not if you read the plain language, as “Justice” (“I rule the way I want to rule on any given day, given how I feel that day, my prejudices [literally “pre-judgements”] and all, and that’s just tough, buddy”) Scalia is always lecturing us to do (see Articles II and VI and the 4^th and 5^th Amendments).

US Presidents have been arrogating to themselves war-making and extra-judicial powers that are simply nowhere to be found in the Constitution at least since Lyndon Johnson used the (fake) Gulf of Tonkin incident to vastly expand the US un-declared war on Vietnam. And that trail has led to the Obama Presidency. At least Hitler could claim (and he did) that what he did beginning on January 30, 1933 was in accord with the Weimar Constitution.

American exceptionalism? You betcha. If fascism does eventually come here it will be because a series of US Presidents gradually expanded their executive power, way beyond anything provided for in the Constitution, often invoking “communism” (see Reagan breaking the law, the Boland Amendment, to support the counter-revolution in Nicaragua) or “terrorism” (see G.W. Bush and now B. H. Obama, to justify what they are doing). At least previous fascist dictators could cite Kings, or a Constitution, or plain old civil war to overthrow a democratically-elected Republic — see Franco Spain. In the U.S., if it comes, it will simply be on a President’s say-so. And there will be no-one to say “NO.”

References:

The Monthly Review, Vol. 60, No. 10, March 2009

2. Paul Craig Roberts, “It Has Happened Here in America: The Police State is Real,” Feb. 9, 2013. http://www.globalresearch.ca/it-has-happened-here-in-america-the-police-state-is-real/5322223.

3. Chris Hedges, “The NDAA and the Death of the Democratic State,” Feb. 11, 2013, http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/the_ndaa_and_the_death_of_the_democratic_state_20130211/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steven Jonas, MD, MPH is a Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University (NY) and author/co-author/editor/co-editor of over 30 books. In addition to being a columnist for BuzzFlash@Truthout he is the Managing Editor of and a Contributing Author to The Political Junkies for Progressive Democracy (http://thepoliticaljunkies.org/), and a senior political editor with The Greanville Post. His classic The 15% Solution, warning about the dangers of a theocratic totalitarianism gaining power in America, is scheduled for publication in March 2013 by Punto Press.

Obama Inherits and Normalizes the Arrogance and Impunity of Nixon, Reagan and Both Bushes

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Bruce A. Dixon

When Republican presidents Nixon, Reagan and Bush waged secret wars based on mountains of lies and deceit, they were nearly impeached, but in each case Democrats in control of Congress could not pull the trigger. As a result, the Obama White House basks in a presidential culture of murderous arrogance and lawless impunity.

. George W. Bush too was widely reviled as a murderous fraud for his lies about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and more, with millions of Americans and millions more around the world protesting his invasion of Iraq before it even began.

This White House openly brags about its “Terror Tuesday” meetings in which US special forces and drones have been dispatched to and from dozens of undisclosed countries to kidnap, torture or murder thousands of people, in the case of drone strikes mostly innocents, to the cheers and jokes of cruise missile liberals like Ed Schulz and Bill Maher, who calls Obama the “black ninja president.” The potent symbol of a black face in that high place has normalized the conduct of lawless aggressive war and secretive state murder among parts of the population which had no trouble calling a crime a crime when committed by a white Republican. In that sense, the First Black President is a little bit unlike, but mostly very much like his nefarious predecessors.

Davey D notes [4], try to shut criticism of this president down in the misguided name of black unity, and some white activists stay home because they don’t want to be seen as racist whites hating on the black president.

A Facebook friend in Atlanta remarked last week that whenever George Bush was rumored coming to town, his inbox would be full of emergency mobilization notices. But with the current War President about to visit, he said, it looked like his only correspondent might be the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

For Black Agenda Radio, I‘m Bruce Dixon. Find us on the web at www.blackagendareport.com [5].

[6]

Source URL: http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/obama-inherits-and-normalizes-arrogance-and-impunity-nixon-reagan-and-both-bushes

Links:
[1] http://www.blackagendareport.com/sites/www.blackagendareport.com/files/presidents_compared.jpg
[2] http://www.narconews.com/darkalliance/
[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/irancontra/contra1.htm
[4] http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/have-we-sold-our-souls-by-turning-a-blind-eye-to-obamas-drones/
[5] http://www.blackagendareport.com/

HITCHENS VS. PARENTI on Iraq & the future of US foreign policy

This is a valuable discussion polluted with ignorant and imbecilic comments on the original YouTube page, so here it is, hopefully before a more creditable audience.

Obama’s Failed State

by Stephen Lendman

Obama’s State of the Union address didn’t surprise. It reflected rogue leadership. It was beginning-to-end demagogic boilerplate. Defending the indefensible took center stage. Rhetoric substituted for progressive policies. Bombast assured business as usual.

Priorities include waging war on humanity, force-fed austerity, ignoring public needs, institutionalizing a repressive police state apparatus, and cracking down hard on non-believers. Doing so assures growing despotism, lawlessness, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, hunger, and deprivation.

Obama’s address targeted Medicare. He called “medical care for the aged….the biggest cause of the nation’s longterm debt.”

He lied. Military spending, imperial wars, Wall Street bailouts, other corporate handouts, and tax cuts for the rich and business bear full responsibility.

Falsely blaming Medicare for Washington’s malfeasance reveals bipartisan rogue leadership. It’s indicative of what’s to come.

In 2009, Obama prioritized cutting healthcare costs and “restoring fiscal discipline.” He made doing so the top “pillars” of his agenda, saying:

We’ve “kicked this can down the road. We are now at the end of the road and are not in a position to kick it any further.”

“We have to signal seriousness in this by making sure some of the hard decisions are made under my watch, not someone else’s.”

“Let’s not kid ourselves and suggest that we can solve this problem by trimming a few earmarks.”

The “biggest cost drivers in our budget are entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, all of which get more and more expensive every year.”

“If we want to get serious about fiscal discipline – and I do – we will have to get serious about entitlement reform.”

Obama did what he does best. He lied. He’s a serial liar. He supports wealth and power. He’s beholden to powerful monied interests. They own him. He spurns popular needs. He prioritizes letting them go begging on his watch.

He proposed massive Medicare cuts. In 2010, 2011, and last November he urged more. He’s waging class war on Americans.

He wants fundamental social benefits destroyed. He wants ordinary people hung out to dry. He wants them on their own to sink or swim.

In 2010, his Simpson-Bowles National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (NCFRF) recommended deep Medicare cuts, higher Medicaid co-pays, and restrictions on filing malpractice suits.

It urged other ways to end Washington’s responsibility for healthcare. Obama’s address reiterated support. Implementation assures disaster for millions.

Healthcare for millions already is unaffordable. Implementing Simpson-Bowles makes it more so when most needed. Illnesses will go untreated. Pain, suffering, and early deaths will follow. Rogue leadership assures it. Obama reflects the worst of irresponsible lawless leaders.

His jobs proposals reveal more. His address rehashed old schemes. His September 2011 “American Jobs Act” promised “putting more people back to work” with no plan to do it.

It showed contempt for ordinary households. It was same old, same old. It concealed another thinly veiled wealth transfer scheme.

It included a laundry list of corporate handouts. Excluded were ways to create jobs, stimulate growth, reinvigorate Main Street, strengthen America’s middle (really working) class, and help growing millions of impoverished, disadvantaged households most in need.

Obama’s address claimed trade deals offshoring jobs to low wage countries create them. He urged support for current ones being negotiated.

He wants the nearly completed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) adopted. It’s a trade deal from hell. It’s a secretive, multi-nation agreement.

Adoption assures unrestricted trade in goods, services, rules of origin, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers, government procurement and competition policies, and intellectual property (IP).

Obama wants secretive provisions established with no public oversight or knowledge of their destructive harm. TPP aims to rewrite global IP enforcement rules. It includes numerous other anti-populist mandates.

National sovereignty is at stake. Signatory countries must change domestic laws, regulations, and other policies to comply. What’s known subverts US laws. Congress is left powerless. Supranational TPP authority overrides national sovereignty. Investor rights are prioritized over public ones.

Obama called for replicating TPP with EU countries. He urged establishing a Trans-Atlantic Partnership. He prioritizes corporate empowerment over human rights and needs. He’s got much more in mind.

He supports extrajudicial killing. He’s got kill list authority. It’s official US policy. Drones are his weapon of choice. He appointed himself judge, jury and executioner.

He wants anyone he targets assassinated. US citizens are included. Rule of law protections don’t apply. Summary judgment has final say. No one’s safe anywhere. There’s no place to hide.

His address made clear where he stands, saying:

“Where necessary, through a range of capabilities, we will continue to take direct action against those terrorists who pose the gravest threat to Americans.”

Police states operate that way. Murder, Inc. is official policy. He claimed he “forge(d) a durable legal and policy (enforceable) framework.” He usurped diktat authority.

Doing so subverts fundamental international, constitutional, and US statute laws. They’re null and void. His say overrides them. Unchecked power is policy. Full-blown tyranny’s a hair’s breath away. Congressional leaders are supportive.

Obama’s entire address reflected rogue leadership. He wants public schools modernized by privatizing them. His immigration proposal mocks notions of welcoming tired, poor, wretched masses yearning to breathe free.

His energy program prioritizes drill, drill, drill. His cybersecurity scheme involves no-holds-barred cyberwar. His notion of economic prosperity is greater corporate empowerment and enriching America’s privileged.

His housing program lets bankers scam ordinary people. His minimum wage proposal falls way below the poverty line. His Afghanistan plan is permanent occupation. His budget-cutting program targets vitally needed domestic programs. His entire agenda reflects rogue leadership.

He’s got much more in mind. He’s [got] four more years to wage war on humanity. Expect him to take full advantage.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached atlendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

http://www.dailycensored.com/obamas-failed-state/