Amnesty International attacks the Catholic Church whilst continuing to promote what Blessed Pope John Paul II called the "culture of death"

Amnesty International was founded by Peter Benenson in 1960's London. Benenson had been received into the Catholic Church whilst recovering from an illness in Rome, and it is generally accepted that his Catholicism led him to work for the rights of political prisoners and the oppressed. In fact, many would say that Amnesty International would not have been founded were it not for Benenson's conversion to Catholicism, for this good man was deeply influenced by the Church's social teaching.

Sadly, Amnesty International moved away from its founding principles after Peter Benenson's death in 2005. By 2007, the organisation was actively campaigning against Catholic teaching on abortion, a move that led the Vatican to withdraw its active support for the organisation. Since that time, any Catholic has not, in good conscience, been able to support Amnesty International's work. In fact, one of the most prominent backers of AI's mission until that date, Bishop Michael Evans of East Anglia, publicly withdrew his support for the organisation at that time.

Since then, Amnesty has gone on to follow a hard-line liberal agenda, specifically aimed at promoting the culture of death and excluding Christians from its campaigns. The organisation, which claims to be politically and religiously neutral, recently started campaigning for "gay rights." In 2008, for example, Amnesty began supporting "Gay Pride" events - and even carried photos on one of its websites of a homosexual mocking (some would say "persecuting") the Catholic Church (see left, h/t Life Site News). No longer known for its work in standing up for the rights of political prisoners and those persecuted for their religious or political beliefs, Amnesty International seems to have become more widely recognised as a "gay rights" or "pro-abortion" lobbying group in recent years. One wonders whether Peter Benenson would have founded Amnesty at all if he'd have known that his organisation would eventually become an apparent leader in today's anti-Catholic crusade?

In its most recent persecution of the Catholic Church, Amnesty International published a most ridiculous report last Thursday, in which the Holy See was criticised for the child abuse crisis that has affected the Catholic Church in recent years. This 2011 International Report seemed unaware of the fact that neither the Vatican City State nor the Holy See is "the Catholic Church." It also failed to highlight the fact that no cases of child abuse, as far as I know, have ever been reported within the walls of the sovereign state known as the Vatican.

Amnesty's report is a blatant attempt to discredit the Catholic Church, possibly so as to undermine Christian teaching on abortion and homosexuality. It failed to explain that the Catholic Church exists only as the particular Church found within a specific diocese or territory - and that failure to deal effectively with paedophile or homosexual priests mainly rests with individual bishops and local governments and police forces. Of course, Amnesty's report also fails to point out that the vast majority of child abuse cases in the Catholic Church are historical, and that any recent abuse allegations are practically non-existent (unlike other religious bodies - see below).

It is also very telling that Amnesty International did not mention that 25% of girls and 16% of boys in the US will have been sexually abused prior to reaching 18 years of age (Finkelhor, at al., 1990). Another report confirms that 21% - 32% of girls in the USA will be sexually abused (Vogelnatz, Wilsnack, and Harris, 1999). Worryingly, the UK's Adult Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Network claims that 25% of boys and 33% of girls experience sexual abuse here in Britain. A 2007 report from India, financed by the 13-state National Study on Child Sexual Abuse, the Ministry of Women and the Child, UNICEF and Save The Children [founded by Pope Benedict XV], also found that 21% of children experience severe sexual abuse in that mainly Hindu country. Other statistics seem to confirm that about 25% of children are exploited sexually throughout the world. It is a known fact that the Catholic Church is one of the foremost global organisations to work for the safeguarding and welfare of these children. One wonders why Amnesty chose not to criticise all these other sovereign states for failing to protect minors or to mention the good work carried out by the Church on behalf of these children?

Here is the part of Amnesty's 2011 International Report that deals with the Vatican. The full report can be viewed on Amnesty International's website. I have added comments in italics: -

Vatican

The Holy See did not sufficiently comply with its international obligations relating to the protection of children.

International scrutiny

In May, the Holy See submitted its initial reports on the optional protocols to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which at the end of the year had yet to be considered by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

However, by the year’s end the Holy See had again failed to submit its second periodic report on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, due in 1997, and the initial report on the UN Convention against Torture, due in 2003. [The Holy See, as it exists within Vatican City State, does not use torture or imprisonment and relies on the Italian Republic for the maintaining of day-to-day matters of law and order and crime and punishment. As far as I know, no children hold a Vatican passport - although a handful of school-children, who come under Italian jurisdiction, reside within the walls of Vatican City. It is plainly silly, therefore, to expect a non-member of the UN to report on matters that it has no responsibility for within its own jurisdiction. If it did hand in a report, this is all it would have to say.]

Children’s rights – response to child abuse

Increasing evidence of widespread child sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy over the past decades [Namely the 1950's - 1980's, with a few cases from the 1990's and a tiny number from this century. One also must question why the western media chose to concentrate of the Church, as opposed to similarly appalling cases that came to light in other religions.], and of the enduring failure of the Catholic Church to address these crimes properly [the Catholic Church is not a state and cannot imprison or try, in a secular court, sex abusers or any type of criminal], continued to emerge in various countries [yes, countries that have ultimate responsibility for the welfare of children within their borders - bishops are not policemen, and parents / victims must report crimes to the police. Bishops only act to punish errant priests within a theological / ecclesial framework]. Such failures included not removing alleged perpetrators from their posts pending proper investigations, not co-operating with judicial authorities to bring them to justice and not ensuring proper reparation to victims. [The Pope agrees that grave mistakes were made and added crimes committed, and has redressed this situation - promising no more misguided "love" towards criminal priests, and a return to a Church that seeks justice and the punishment of wrong-doing - ie. real and just love for victim and criminal.]

The Pope acknowledged the abuses during visits to countries where they had been reported, such as Ireland, Malta and the UK, and expressed regret. He affirmed that “just penalties” should be imposed to exclude perpetrators from access to young people and stressed that to prevent abuses education and selection of candidates for priesthood should be improved. [Yes, including the removal of promoters of the gay agenda from seminaries. The Pope - sovereign of Vatican City State and the Holy See - also had this to say during Holy Mass at Westminster Cathedral, which was watched by billions around the world: "Here, too, I think of the immense suffering caused by the abuse of children, especially within the church and by her ministers. Above all, I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes, along with my hope that the power of Christ's grace, his sacrifice of reconciliation, will bring deep healing and peace to their lives. I also acknowledge with you the shame and humiliation which all of us have suffered because of these sins; and I invite you to offer it to the Lord with trust that this chastisement will contribute to the healing of victims, the purification of the church and the renewal of her age-old commitment to the education and care of young people."]

In March, in a letter to the Catholics of Ireland, the Pope admitted that “a misplaced concern for the reputation of the Church and the avoidance of scandals” had resulted in the “failure to apply existing canonical penalties and to safeguard the dignity of every person”. He exhorted bishops to fully implement the norms of canon law when addressing child abuse and “to continue to cooperate with the civil authorities in their area of competence”. [So, why is Amnesty International complaining? It's not as if it's dealing with an organisation in denial, or some evil dictatorship hell-bent on misinformation].

Amendments to the canon law promulgated in May introduced the “delicts” of paedophile pornography and abuse of mentally disabled people; the maximum punishment for these “delicts” is dismissal or deposition. Canon law does not include an obligation for Church authorities to report cases to civil authorities for criminal investigation. Secrecy is mandatory throughout the proceedings. [Here again is evidence that the world is now so dumbed-down that so-called experts in law or jurisprudence have no idea that canon law is separate and distinct from criminal, civil or state laws. A victim has the primary duty to report a crime to the police / competent authorities, so that the perpetrator of a crime may be justly tried, and, if found guilty, punished according to the law of the land. If the same victim happens to be a Catholic and wishes that a perpetrator in holy orders be suspended or laicised then s/he (or the police) must report the same crime to his or her ecclesiastical authority - namely, the bishop. The bishop can then determine whether or not the alleged perpetrator should be suspended from active ministry or be returned to the lay-state. Often, social services departments ask for bishops to retain authority over certain abusers, so that they may be kept under surveillance - i.e. once a priest is laicised, a bishop cannot then keep an eye on him. Proceedings under canon law, like most European civil laws, are usually held in camera. There is no reason whatsoever, though, for a trial under canon law to coincide with a trial under criminal or civil law - which, might, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world, be held in open court. The ordinary judge in canon law - ie, the local bishop - cannot conduct a criminal investigation, does not have a police force or the structures needed to punish sexual criminals. Knowing that he is not competent to deal with crime, as understood outside theological crimes, the bishop should always, and most always have done, advice the victim to report a criminal offence to the police. Unfortunately, some bishops seemed unwilling to offer this advice, and this is why the Vatican now - since the early 2000's - oversees child abuse cases in the universal Church. It is also important to note that canon lawyers would soon find problems in insisting that bishops inform local authorities concerning alleged crimes committed by their priests, especially if the the Church was located in a society that actively persecuted Christians. Also, bishops are not to be understood as being employers or heads of institutions such as schools or care homes, even if they have priests (under their authority) and headteachers or social workers within their dioceses].

In November, Holy See representatives conducted an “apostolic visitation” to Ireland, to verify “the effectiveness of processes used in responding to cases of abuse and of forms of assistance provided to the victims”. Results of the visit were due to be announced in 2011. [Maybe, then, it might be best to wait and see what wil be announced later on this year?]

It seems that, in its desire to persecute the Catholic Church for holding onto a definite, traditional and Christian morality in sexual and reproductive matters (namely the issue of homosexuality and the crime of abortion), Amnesty International decided to produce a "hatchet-job" report on the Vatican. The report seems to confuse the Vatican City, the Holy See and the Catholic Church so as to try and pin the blame for the actions of many from different nations on one person (the Pope) in a totally separate sovereign state (the Vatican). Many of the Church's opponents have used the same tactics or have misunderstood simple notions of sovereignty and law during the past few decades. It's sad to see that Amnesty International has now decided to throw in its lot with the Church's detractors and / or persecutors.

In choosing to concentrate on the abuse scandal within the Catholic Church, Amnesty has colluded with the global persecution of Catholicism by omitting to point out that all world religions suffer from the same problem (as do most families, villages, towns, schools, and so on). Only recently, a Channel 4 Dispatches programme reported on the systemic abuse of children in Muslim schools in the UK. It has also been widely reported (even if the liberal press would rather concentrate on historical allegations against Catholic priests) that children are routinely abused (sexually as well as physically) in madrassas within the UK (see the Independent, 2006) and around the world (see Los Angeles Times, 2005). The most recent case of violent rape against children in the UK involved a "respected" imam - who received an eight-year prison sentence two months ago (see BBC News). It is a sad indictment against many global religions that their shameful secrets are yet to be fully revealed, and that not many clerics from other faiths are openly repentant for the crimes of their colleagues.

Amnesty International owes a lot to the Catholic Church. It would not exist were it not for the Catholicism of its founder or the Church's social teachings. In the matter of child abuse within religious settings, the world should welcome the Church's openness and willingness to repent and change. As a woman who had been abused as a child by a Buddhist monk recently said to me, "if only my religion was as open as yours!" Some very heinous things have happened at the hands of Catholic priests, and some evil bishops did try and hide evidence in some misguided attempt to "save face." But, we can be assured, thanks to Pope Benedict XVI, that such crimes will be, please God, a thing of the past. We can also pray that other world religions will now be brave enough to follow the Christian example in tackling child abuse within religious settings.

Sadly, because of its desire to promote the liberal culture of death, the gay agenda and the destruction of life within the womb, Amnesty International has, it seems, decided to become and enemy of the Christian faith. In fact, it could be said that the political movement known as AI, has become an enemy of all people of faith. Instead of keeping the clerical child abuse scandal in perspective, and encouraging Pope Benedict XVI's resolve to tackle paedophilia and homosexual abuse of minors within the priesthood, Amnesty has launched this bitter attack against its spiritual mother. I therefore call on all Catholics, Christians, people of faith and men and women of good will to seriously consider stopping any support for Amnesty International until it becomes again, as its founder wished to to be, an independent and non-politically or religiously aligned movement for the protection of those who suffer unjust persecution.

[Image: Amnesty International's promotion of "gay rights" at the expense of the Catholic Church. Some commentators, after viewing this image, which was published on an Amnesty website, pointed out that Amnesty International had now joined forces with those who persecute Catholicism. Source: Life Site News]