
Deutsche Welle, one of the leading German media outlets, reported this recently:
The Roman Catholic Church in Germany on Sunday faced renewed calls for better protection of LGBTQ rights and an end to institutional discrimination against queer people.
Around 125 people, including former and current priests, teachers, church administrators and volunteers, identified themselves as gay and queer, asking the church to take into account their demands and do away with “outdated statements of church doctrine” when it comes to sexuality and gender.
What’s surprising is not so much that a few Germans “come out” as homosexuals, but that it’s dozens of priests doing it.
Which is quite telling, not so much about the Roman-Catholic Church itself, but about Christianity as a whole.
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Christian Clergymen and Homosexuality: An Old Love Story
One would think that homosexual clergyman would be a novelty, but in fact this isn’t so.
Indeed, nearly 1000 years ago, Peter Damian, a Catholic monk and “saint” who’s writings are still read, penned a book aptly titled Liber Gomorrhianus (The Book of Gomorrah).
Therein, he bashes the Christian clergymen of his times for being involved in different sexual immoralities, including bestiality, but mainly homosexuality, stressing in particular their preference for younger boys.
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One of those implicitly accused was Pope Benedict IX.
One thousand years later, things haven’t changed that much, as shown in French journalist Frédéric Martel’s book In the Closet of the Vatican.
Its original title in French is Sodoma, reverberating the title by the medieval Catholic saint-monk we just mentioned.
What’s quite new with Martel’s book is that he basically interviews Christian clergymen, such as bishops and cardinals, on the issue of homosexuality in the Church, not so much their secular critics.
Without obviously going through the whole book, here an enlightening excerpt (pp. 18-19):
So the omnipresence of homosexuals in the Vatican isn’t just a matter of a few black sheep, or the ‘net that caught the bad fish’ as Josef Ratzinger put it. It isn’t a ‘lobby’ or a dissident movement; neither is it a sect of a freemasonry inside the holy see: it’s a system. It isn’t a tiny minority; it’s a big majority.
At this point in the conversation, I ask Francesco Lepore to estimate the size of this community, all tendencies included.
‘I think the percentage is very high. I’d put it at around 80 per cent.’
During a discussion with a non-Italian archbishop, whom I met several times, he confirmed to me: ‘Three of the last five popes are said to have been homophilic, some of their assistants and secretaries of state too, as well as most cardinals and bishops in the Curia. But it isn’t a matter of knowing whether those Vatican priests have this kind of inclination: they do. Its a matter of knowing – and this, in fact, is the true debate – whether they are practising or non-practising homosexuals. That’s where things get complicated. Some prelates who have inclinations do not practise homosexuality. They might be homophilic in their life and culture, but without having a homosexual identity.’
So around 80% of the clergymen in the Vatican are homosexuals according to this testimony, or, let’s say, “homophilic.”
While the percentages given may differ depending on the sources, even if it is 20%, that would be still higher than those in the general population.
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One of those influential figures who manifests such tendencies, as per Martel basing himself on the testimony of David Berger — an homosexual German theologian who had “insider information” from the Vatican where he once worked — is none other than Pope Benedict XVI, famous for his anti-Islam stance.
Apparently the love-interest of Pope Benedict XVI is Georg Gänswein, a German bishop known to represent the “right-wing” of the Catholic hierarchy of his home country, and who’s relationship with the former pope was mainly a strategy to become pope himself.
Anyway, witnessing the “omnipresence” (to quote Martel) of homosexuality among the Christian clergymen, it won’t be surprising that, sooner than later, they do drop the mask and finally embrace LGBTQ+ “identities.”
This news of German-Catholic priests “coming out” is just a trailer.
Christianity has always adapted (read: submitted) to its times.
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Paul of Tarsus Condemns Them To Death!
You’d expect Christian clergymen (again, we’re not talking about laymen here) to know their scriptures, right?
Well, Paul of Tarsus, whom many consider the real founder of Christianity, condemns homosexual practitioners to death.
From his epistle to the Romans, chapter 1, verses 18:32:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
(…)
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
(…)
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
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Muslim skeptic and his fans seem to pretend that sexual activity with boys is ONLY done by NonMuslims such as Christians and by supporters of modernist LGBT ideology. Muslim skeptic is not willing to acknowledge the harsh reality that sexual activity with boys is also done by many men who appear to be conservative orthodox Muslims (like molvi/mullah with big beard and turban and long white robes). That bias in evident in this article and on a previous Muslim skeptic article “The curious case of the MeToo Mufti: Abdullah Nana” published on 15th August 2021. Whenever a man who seems to be conservative orthodox Muslim is accused of sexual misconduct, Muslim skeptic pretends that these kind of men never do any sexual misconduct and deploys the Islamic argument of “assume the best and don’t slander innocent men because that’s haram” but not apply the same principle for other people such as nonMuslims who are accused of the same thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a conservative Muslim myself so I’m not some secular liberal trying to make conservative Islam look bad, however I’m suggesting as constructive criticism that it is totally wrong and counterproductive for Muslims to be hypocritical with double standards by making such biased reporting like this (blaming 100% of all sexual misconduct on ONLY people who are not conservative Muslims, while NEVER blaming conservative Muslim men for sexual misconduct). We should confront the problems in our own community first before pointing the finger at others, otherwise with such biased reporting you’re giving the cuffar more propaganda ammunition to attack Islam further.
Here is a relevant article for you.
TRT World
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‘Shhhh…don’t say a word’: Child abuse case rocks Pakistan’s clergy
By Aoun Sahi and Saad Hasan. 23 JUN 2021
A viral video has in many ways exposed a practice of child abuse at some religious schools that clerics don’t want people to talk about.
Pakistan’s religious schools have come under scrutiny after yet another abuse case goes viral. ( AP Archive )
A sexually explicit video involving a senior Muslim cleric that surfaced a few days back has reignited a debate on the seemingly rampant abuse that takes place in Pakistan’s religious schools known as madrassahs.
Seventy-year-old Aziz ur Rehman, a scholar at one of the top Islamic institutions in Pakistan’s second largest city of Lahore, has confessed he forced a student to perform sexual acts in return for a promise to let him take an exam after he was caught cheating. Rehman is now in police custody.
The case involving Rehman, who’s a Mufti, which means he’s among the highest echelons of the clergy, can become a test case for Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government on how to tackle a politically sensitive matter, experts said.
“What I am concerned about is all those kids who are still studying at that madrassah (seminary). We don’t know how many of them have been abused in the same way, ” said Dr Kishwar Enam, a pediatrician who works with underge victims of assault and is affiliated with multiple NGOs.
“Authorities must immediately screen all the students for any signs of abuse. We can already see many supporters of this mufti are coming forward in his defence — this clearly means many of them could can even be involved in a similar crime,” she told TRT World.
Jamia Manzor Al-Islamia, where Rehman has been a teacher for many years, is home to more than 500 kids between the ages of 8 and 25 who come from poor families and remote towns and villages.
Both Rehman and the student who leaked the video hail from a region in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which borders Afghanistan.
It’s difficul to estimate how rampant sexual abuse is in the 20,000 seminaries spread aross the country as most cases are never reported because victims and their families are too scared to come forward, said Rana Asif, a childs rights activist who has assisted street children since the early 2000s.
“One way to look at the stats is that in the last year there were 2,690 cases of sexual abuse involving children. And out of every 100 cases that we deal with, between 10 and 20 percent involve kids from the seminaries,” he told TRT World.
Sahil, an NGO, said it recorded 42 cases of sexual abuse or assault that took place within a religious insitution in Pakistan. It collected the information from the crime reported in the newspapers.
Assault at the hands of a cleric hasn’t come as a shock for many. In Europe, North America and Australia, Catholic churches have faced a storm of criticism for trying to hide systematic abuse at the hands of priests.
In Pakistan, generations have grown up hearing stories about a friend, sibling or a cousin who was molested by a religious tutor — even if the recitation classes were taken in their own homes.
It’s only recently that cameras in mobile phones have helped capture some of the most heinous violations. With such videos going viral, many more students are coming forward to share their own tales.
But Pakistani courts do not consider videos as admissible evidence, making the job of the police difficult when it comes to building a case, said a senior police official.
“Conviction rate in cases of violence against children is low because the witnesses, in most instances, change their statements. For a long time we have been recommending that it’s time to update our criminal justice system,” he told TRT World.
‘Everyone has to go through it’
Even if a child in a seminary dares to come forward to complain about abuse, he’s very often told to keep his mouth shut and not to discuss it with anyone, said Sabookh Syed, a journalist and researcher, who is at the forefront of reporting on child abuse stories concering clerics.
“The clerics twist an Islamic concept to justify this silence. They say you are supposed to cover up other people’s mistakes and if you do that Allah will similarly whitewash your sins.”
Over a period spanning 15 years, Syed has investigated multiple instances of abuse in seminaries. He said there’s a deliberate attempt at the top leadership to cover up child molestation and abuse.
“If things go really out of control at a madrassah, do you know what they ask teachers to do? They ask them to fast twice a week. They think fasting helps reduce sexual appetite. If the abuse continues then they ask all the teachers and students to fast!”
One factor that is usually not considered is also that studies have repeatedly shown that rape is not always sexually motivated, but about power, control and violence.
Child abuse workers such as Rana Asif said that it’s routine that a teacher or caretaker found to be involved is fired. However, the matter is hushed up and the accused cleric is never prosecuted.
“Even though such abuse is a non-compoundable offence, parents of the kids end up compromising with the mosque or seminary administration. That’s why the conviction rate is so low.”
The boy who was sodomised by Aziz ur Rehman recorded the video of the act more than a year ago. He had reportedly informed his parents and the seminary administration but was asked not to talk about it. He has been in hiding ever since the video was leaked on Twitter on June 14.
“I personally know of 2 cases where a child was molested inside a seminary. In both cases the kids were forced by the parents to go back to the same seminary. Some parents don’t even recognise child sexual assault as something that’s improper. They say ‘hota he sab ke saath, koi baat nahi’ (it is not a big deal, everyone has to go through it),” said Dr Enam, the pediatrician.
Successive governments have struggled to deal with the clerics who enjoy considerable street power.(AP Archive)
Even in the case of the senior cleric, Aziz ur Rehman, police officers fear that the family of the boy might end up forgiving the cleric.
“This cleric was really confident that he could have negotiated some sort of a deal with the family of the student if he wasn’t arrested and had a bit more time,” Shoaib Khurram Janbaz, a senior police officer who is part of the investigation, told TRT World.
“He even sent a delegation of local elders and clerics (known locally as a jirga) to the student’s parents to request that he be forgiven.”
It’s common in parts of Pakistan’s rural areas to reach out-of-court settlements at the behest of influential people in a village or a town.
“We are trying our best to make a strong case. But if the victim reaches a compromise then there’s a possibility that Aziz ur Rehman will walk free,” said Janbaz.
A state of disbelief
Madrassahs in Pakistan are charity-run boarding houses, which offer free meals, lodging and education to some of the poorest children who would otherwise end up on the streets.
“Parents think they are sending their kids to a better place. I don’t think any other class of citizens is respected more than the religious scholars in our society,” said Syed, the journalist.
The grinding schedule of theological and religious lectures turns even weak and shy students into fearsome debaters — at least on matters of religion.
“So when a seminary student goes back to his village and eloquently presents his views and confidently drives forward a narrative, his poor parents and people around him are in awe. Parents are even more thankful to the institution,” said Syed.
Pakistani religious institutions and leaders extend their influence around the world. Scholars such as Maulana Abul A’la Maudidi have left a deep imprint on the Muslim Brotherhood. Missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat’s Maulana Tariq Jameel has millions of followers globally.
This along with a belief that clerics are doing God’s work leave people in a state of disbelief when sexual scandals come to light, said Syed.
“These clerics can be very learned men. But being very smart and knowledgeable doesn’t absolve you from a crime. What we see is that top scholars are not ready to publicly condemn what has happened in this case.”
Aziz ur Rehman is also a senior leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Pakistan’s largest religious political party headed by influential cleric Maulana Fazal ur Rehman (no relation with Aziz). Aziz ur Rehman’s affiliation with the party was suspended, only after his arrest.
Fazal and other religious leaders are facing criticism for not issuing any statements condemning the cleric or willing to accept that abuse occurs in some of the seminaries. Instead, religious scholars see the entire episode as another attempt by the secular class to lobby against them.
Fazal ur Rehman, a senior religious and political leader, faces criticism for not issuing any statement on the abuse case.(AP Archive)
“People like Aziz ur Rehman must be given a harsher punishment than any other criminal because they represent Islamic schools,” said Maulana Zahid Qasmi, a leading scholar of the Deobandi sect, who is also a member of the board that oversees religious schools in the country.
“At the same time, I’d add that this case must be treated as an individual’s act and should not be used to malign madrassahs or Islam,” he told TRT World.
In 2019, Pakistan was roiled by a series of assaults on children in a city called Kasur. Public pressure forced the government to adopt the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Act — a law against child abuse named after a young girl who was brutally raped and killed.
While laws have been passed and multiple state-run bodies have been setup to counter child abuse, lack of enforcement and resources have not helped in reducing the cases of abuse, child rights activists said.
It’s all the more complicated when authorities have to deal with madrassahs.
“The state institutions, which deal with child protection policies, hardly have any reach when it comes to religious schools,” said Afshan Tehseen, Chairperson of National Commission of Rights of Child, a federal body.
This is concerning because “the isolated environment of religious schools makes children even more vulnerable to abuse,” she told TRT World.
Some activists such as Dr Enam and Rana Asif have tried to organise seminars in seminaries on educating kids about abuse and how to avoid it. They are advocating for child protection committees and dedicated officials for hearing complaints in schools and seminaries.
“But many of the madrassahs won’t even let us come near their gate,” said Dr Enam.
Absolutely disgusting. Anyone with even an ounce of morality can recognize what should be done to address this problem.
It really makes you think that the Vatican Bank and other arms of the Catholic organization were perfectly happy to fund the numerous bombings (including the Bologna massacre which killed 85 Italians) and other murders committed by the pseudo-fascist NATO-backed Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari in the ‘Strategy of Tension’, but apparently, making sure that the majority of Catholic ‘priests’ aren’t committing pederastic crimes that any real Christian (and any real human being) would condemn is a little too much for the Catholic hierachy.