Catholic Church Owns German Porn Distributor

Morbert

Click

My respect for the Church might have actually increased if it wasn't for the hypocrisy.

[edit]- It goes without saying that I am, of course, open to corrections, should this story be found to be untrue.

Snappy Smurf

It is true.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/revealed-publisher-owned-by-the-catholic-church-sells-pornography-6257572.html

Benny_Cake

It emerged yesterday that in an attempt to clear itself of potential embarrassment over the sale of porn, the Catholic Church tried to sell Weltbild in 2009. But the bishops apparently abandoned the idea after they failed to get the price they were asking.

If true, the hypocrisy here is actually pretty breathtaking. At first I thought that maybe some dioceses just owned stock in the company or something, but it turns out that the company is wholly owned by the church. The bishops knew about this situation for a number of years, but did absolutely nothing, presumably as Weltbild was making such a tidy profit. Then when this attracts publicity they try and sell it, but change their minds because the offers weren't high enough. I have no problem with adults buying or selling any sort of literature - each to their own, but this really does appear to be a case of "we think this is incredibly immoral, but we're making too much money to stop it!".

Onesimus

Yes I'm sure the Catholic Church agree that the selling of porn is legit and ''okay'':rolleyes:

This is mother Church and is full of people who create and cause failures. We pray that they get it sorted sooner than later.

Getting away from this publisher might not be as easy as the ordinary man thinks, there is more behind the scenes than we know so we should not assume the worst and just pray that they get it all back on track. These things happen even to the best of us.

Sarky

Yes, I accidentally end up wholly owning a massive porn publishing business at least twice a year. These things happen.

Skuxx

They really are a bunch of "do as we say not as we do" two faced doubled standard scumbags!! I really can't understand how any can call themselves a catholic with all the controversy over the last while!! I would love to see steps taken to remove Ireland's stance as a "catholic" country, really no place for it anymore!!

Sonics2k

Onesimus wrote: »

Yes I'm sure the Catholic Church agree that the selling of porn is legit and ''okay'':rolleyes:

This is mother Church and is full of people who create and cause failures. We pray that they get it sorted sooner than later.

Getting away from this publisher might not be as easy as the ordinary man thinks, there is more behind the scenes than we know so we should not assume the worst and just pray that they get it all back on track. These things happen even to the best of us.

Owner: I heard you guys are publishing pornographic material.
Publisher: Yeah...
Owner: Could you stop it please, we don't approve of it.
Publisher: It's making us a large profit
Owner: Even so, stop it or we pull out.
Publisher: Alrighty.

Sarky

Ah now, cut them some slack! It's not like anyone knew about this until recently and...

Published on 2011-10-29

... Oh, just short of a year. At least. Um, well, maybe the announcement is going to be like a grand Eurovision style affair that takes a year to organise? Maybe? Damn it, if only there was some kind of major Catholic conference they could have mentioned this at. There could be discussions about the Eucharist, too. They could call it some kind of, I dunno, Eucharistic Conference or something, I'm sure there's a better term we could come up with.

totus tuus

Sonics2k wrote: »

Owner: I heard you guys are publishing pornographic material.
Publisher: Yeah...
Owner: Could you stop it please, we don't approve of it.
Publisher: It's making us a large profit
Owner: Even so, stop it or we pull out.
Publisher: Alrighty.

It seems the publishing house was owned by 12 German Bishops, not the entire CC.


From last year:

Germany’s 27 bishops met this week to press the 12 bishops who co-owned Weltbild to end the investment after Weltbild defended its commercial policy of publishing whatever books met market demand.

They have been trying to sell it since 2009.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2811409/posts

Onesimus

This was published well over a year ago. Surprisingly enough though that the Church have possibly dealt with it since then. But will these papers then publish their correction of the situation? I dont think so. And I certainly ( unlike atheists who say they have no faith ) don't put my faith into Journalism nor do I see it as my Bible of truth.

Oh atheists without faith haha yeah right. We all have faith and in this thread many atheists are putting into practice such faith. Talk about hyprocisy eh?

Sarky

Onesimus wrote: »

Surprisingly enough though that the Church have possibly dealt with it since then.

When you've been trying to sell a major and very profitable business for 3 years, I don't think you've trying very hard.

But will these papers then publish their correction of the situation? I dont think so. And I certainly ( unlike atheists who say they have no faith ) don't put my faith into Journalism nor do I see it as my Bible of truth.

Or, and I realise how crazy this sounds, your church could actually get rid of the company by whatever means are necessary and we could find out whether or not your withering view of journalism is misplaced or not?

Oh atheists without faith haha yeah right. We all have faith and in this thread many atheists are putting into practice such faith. Talk about hyprocisy eh?

Uh, yes, hypocrisy is kind of the point. "They've probably maybe possibly dealt with the problem" is not a defence. Actually severing ties with the porn company is. To date, there seems to be no evidence that's happened.

Sonics2k

Onesimus wrote: »

This was published well over a year ago. Surprisingly enough though that the Church have possibly dealt with it since then. But will these papers then publish their correction of the situation? I dont think so. And I certainly ( unlike atheists who say they have no faith ) don't put my faith into Journalism nor do I see it as my Bible of truth.

Sorry, just to clarify this.

It would only be a correction if they reported incorrect details, which they did not.

I'm sure what you meant to say an 'update' of the situation.

Either way, it was a bit amusing when I read about it, especially considering the Churches comments on pornography in the past. It's just a funny irony situation.

Gumbi

Onesimus wrote: »

This was published well over a year ago. Surprisingly enough though that the Church have possibly dealt with it since then. But will these papers then publish their correction of the situation? I dont think so. And I certainly ( unlike atheists who say they have no faith ) don't put my faith into Journalism nor do I see it as my Bible of truth.

Oh atheists without faith haha yeah right. We all have faith and in this thread many atheists are putting into practice such faith. Talk about hyprocisy eh?

Errr.... Do you know what faith means?

number66

I suspect if all the Vatican Banks investments where public knowledge a little porn would be the least to be concerned about.

Onesimus

number66 wrote: »

I suspect if all the Vatican Banks investments where public knowledge a little porn would be the least to be concerned about.

wooOOOooo oh the conspiracy. Number 66 ( Dan Browns Nephew ) pays us a visit. :rolleyes:

Oscorp

Full text of the Independent article for those on phones.

Germany's biggest Catholic-owned publishing house has been rocked by disclosures that it has been selling thousands of pornographic novels with titles such as Sluts Boarding School and Lawyer's Whore with the full assent of the country's leading bishops.


The revelations made in the publishing-industry newsletter Buchreport concern Weltbild, a company with an annual €1.7bn (£1.5bn) turnover and 6,400 employees. It is Germany's largest bookseller after Amazon and wholly owned by the Catholic Church.


Buchreport revealed that Weltbild's massive assortment of titles available to customers online includes some 2,500 "erotic" books with unmistakably lewd titles including Call Me Slut!, Take Me Here, Take Me Now! and Lawyer's Whore, to name a few. The publisher's website also pictures the titles' lascivious dust jackets that feature colour photographs of scantily clad women in high heels and erotic underwear.


Yesterday, Carel Haff, Weltbild's managing director, was quoted as saying that the revelations had provoked "a very intense and critical dialogue" within the company. He said discussions were under way about possibly limiting the assortment of titles that would be available in future.


Catholic bishops responded with a statement claiming that "a filtering system failure" at the publishing house had allowed the books to stray on to the market. "We will put a stop to the distribution of possibly pornographic content in future," they said.


But Bernhard Müller, editor of the Catholic magazine PUR, dismissed the clerics' reaction as grossly hypocritical. He alleged that the pornography scandal at Weltbild had been going on for at least a decade with the Church's full knowledge. Mr Müller said that in 2008, a group of concerned Catholics had sent bishops a 70-page document containing irrefutable evidence that Weltbild published books that promoted pornography, Satanism and magic. They demanded that the publisher withdraw the titles.


But their protests appear to have been completely ignored. Writing in the Die Welt newspaper, Mr Müller said most of the bishops refused to respond to the charges. "The sudden proclaimed astonishment of many church leaders that pornographic material is being distributed by their publishing house, is play acting – bad play acting," Mr Müller said. "Believers have been complaining to their bishops about this for years."


The Catholic Church bought Weltbild more than 30 years ago. The publisher has gradually transformed itself into one of Germany's largest media companies with the help of some €182mof Catholic Church tax levied on believers. To increase its profits, in 1998 the company merged with five other publishing houses that market pornographic titles. One of them is Droemer Knaur, which is 50 per cent church-owned. Another is Blue Panther Books, which was excluded from the list of participating publishers at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair allegedly because of the pornographic content of is titles.


It emerged yesterday that in an attempt to clear itself of potential embarrassment over the sale of porn, the Catholic Church tried to sell Weltbild in 2009. But the bishops apparently abandoned the idea after they failed to get the price they were asking.

antiskeptic

Morbert wrote: »

Click

My respect for the Church might have actually increased if it wasn't for the hypocrisy.

[edit]- It goes without saying that I am, of course, open to corrections, should this story be found to be untrue.

By their fruit shall ye know them.

Given the general scent of all things Rome, does this particular bounty come as anything approaching a surprise? To anyone?

skooterblue2

Shame on you Oscorp

I am sure it "Adam and Eve" stuff for educational purposes, rather than "Adam and Steve".
Maybe they did try and sell it, but maybe they said "We will hold on to it .... just a little bit longer". they could do some good with the profits.....

I remember this one time my mom caught me with Porn in my room. Now its ok cause its property of the Vatican and is just as valid as any Vatican publication. Pope Benny Approves!!

Still it sounds a whole lot better than the book was resting in my drawer.

muppeteer

I seem to remember a few years ago the Anglican Church had their attention drawn to some of their investments in their big pension fund. Arms manufacturers were the most embarrassing thing I remember. Although with a pension fund in the billions you might be able to forgive a few ethical oversights:)

Now they have turned to the fluffy good guys of the investment world, hedge funds

Sonics2k

So, this was revealed over a year ago now.

So we'd expect to see some results after all of the controversy and claims of hypocrisy.

Guess not.
Shades of Grey
Homo Erotic Photographer

There's a few more on there, so I thought this would be enough.

Edit:
As an additional. For those saying it's hard to control what's going on in the background, well that's just wrong.

Apple successfully manage to avoid having 18+ content added onto their own store (which is far larger), and anyone ones that do make it on are quickly taken offline. Why? Because Steve Jobs and others didn't approve of it on their site.

lazygal

I see those vows of poverty are still working well.

WTH are bishops doing investing money anyway? Where do they get it and what are they using the dividends for? Plus, why not just offload a company in direct conflict with their 'beliefs' for a knock down price if the bishops concerned are really seriously about not making money out of erotica? Unless they are more worried about the money and investment than, you know, ethics and morals they preach about.


I'm sure Jesus would be real happy with this scenario. :rolleyes:

totus tuus

Press release from Weltbild (translation from German to English via Google)

Augsburg, 27 October 2011
world view contradicts pornography charges

In recent days, was attacked in a number of media in most polemical way, the range of internet publishing group of the world. Pointed it was claimed, the world sell pornography - which was particularly due to the fact that you have chosen search term "adult" about 2500 products - and would thus make "millions in profits." It should be noted: "pornography" is legally a clearly defined term. Worldview offers no pornography in his range and has done so before. Neither the world nor its partners "earn millions with pornography."

The revenue share of the criticized article is minimal. Books about the word "erotic" were to be found on the Internet, achieved in calendar year 2011 accumulated a stake of less than 0.017% of the total turnover of the publishing group of the world. Headlines such as "Catholic Church makes a fortune with porn" is against this background is simply untrue and defamatory. The company is taking legal action against the slanderers.
Like any other book retailer will take the world in front of an active collection of his offer. In view of the world, these are the catalog, the stores and the editorial part of the selection of online shops. There can not find the mentioned title.
The image of the world put together actively offer is completed on the Internet available to the wholesale supply of the German Book Trade. This basic range of the German book trade, there are also books erotic content. They are kept in stock by wholesalers KNV / Stuttgart and BOOKS / Hamburg and are thus obtainable through any bookseller. Through a targeted search, they are also found throughout the Internet.
Basically, it should be noted: Censorship does not happen, the world emanates from the responsible citizen. In addition, we seek to fulfill our responsibilities. Holocaust deniers, glorification of war, glorification of violence, sex - there is the world's borders, just as in polemical books on its shareholders, the dioceses. In these extreme cases, the company reserves the right to take these books from the offer. Doubtful books are listed with basic information. In view of 775,000 available titles and new releases 100,000 a year to make such an examination is not conclusive.

http://www.weltbild.com/presse/pressemitteilung/Weltbild-widerspricht-Pornografie-Vorwurf/497/

Note:

Headlines such as "Catholic Church makes a fortune with porn" against this background is simply untrue and defamatory. The company is taking legal action against the slanderers.

Corkfeen

totus tuus wrote: »

Press release from Weltbild (translation from German to English via Google)

http://www.weltbild.com/presse/pressemitteilung/Weltbild-widerspricht-Pornografie-Vorwurf/497/

Note:

Headlines such as "Catholic Church makes a fortune with porn" against this background is simply untrue and defamatory. The company is taking legal action against the slanderers.

Okay, the OP should change it to Erotic Fiction distributor. Going by the titles of the books that they were selling i'm assuming that it would be frowned upon.

The 2,500 erotic books in their online catalogue, including those from Blue Panther Books, an erotic book publisher owned by Weltbild, are only one example. Their titles include: “Anwaltshure” (Lawyer’s Whore), “Vögelbar” (F—kable) and “Schlampen-Internat” (Sluts’ Boarding School).

Erotic fiction can be considered a sub genre of porn though, just because it's not photographic or video based, its purpose is clear. If they were making a fortune or not is beside the question.

lazygal

totus tuus wrote: »

Press release from Weltbild (translation from German to English via Google)

http://www.weltbild.com/presse/pressemitteilung/Weltbild-widerspricht-Pornografie-Vorwurf/497/

Note:

Headlines such as "Catholic Church makes a fortune with porn" against this background is simply untrue and defamatory. The company is taking legal action against the slanderers.

Would they not just turn the other cheek?

philologos

Morbert wrote: »

Click

My respect for the Church might have actually increased if it wasn't for the hypocrisy.

[edit]- It goes without saying that I am, of course, open to corrections, should this story be found to be untrue.

For the record, I agree, it is intensely hypocritical. At the same time, I don't think because one institution has fallen short in this respect that pornography as an industry is right or good.

Edit: Even if it sells "erotic fiction" is that really much better?

skooterblue2

Well if there is no money being made off these books then why are all the book Shops in Dublin out of stock of 50 Shades of Grey then every second day? They are talking about movie right to it now.

Wasnt so long ago they were warning about Harry Potter being Satanic..... then it was Yoga (emptily glorifying one's own body). Now the page got stuck so to speak!

skooterblue2

lazygal wrote: »

Would they not just turn the other cheek?

I am warning you Lazygal!!! One more word out of you and its the Ballgag!!

Sonics2k

totus tuus wrote: »

Press release from Weltbild (translation from German to English via Google)

http://www.weltbild.com/presse/pressemitteilung/Weltbild-widerspricht-Pornografie-Vorwurf/497/

Note:

Headlines such as "Catholic Church makes a fortune with porn" against this background is simply untrue and defamatory. The company is taking legal action against the slanderers.

Is that it?
'Erotic fiction is not Pornography'. Yes, yes it is.
How about the book on Homo Erotic Photography? Why yes, yes it is.

totus tuus

philologos wrote: »

For the record, I agree, it is intensely hypocritical. At the same time, I don't think because one institution has fallen short in this respect that pornography as an industry is right or good.

Edit: Even if it sells "erotic fiction" is that really much better?

See my post above, they have issued a press release indicating that the embellished story that was released was totally untrue and they are sueing for slander.

I think it's hypocrital of you and others to make rash judgments without knowing all the facts! Since it came to the Bishops attention about this sorry saga, they have been trying to sell the company, but is probably caught up in legal stuff over the slander!

philologos

totus tuus wrote: »

See my post above, they have issued a press release indicating that the embellished story that was released was totally untrue and they are sueing for slander.

I think it's hypocrital of you and others to make rash judgments without knowing all the facts!

Is erotic fiction any better than pornography, ultimately?

Onesimus

lazygal wrote: »

Would they not just turn the other cheek?

Knowing when to turn the cheek and when to speak out against injustice are two different things. Christ tells us to turn the other cheek but when slapped on the cheek by the high priests guard he spoke out against such an injustice.

Turning the cheek does not mean burying ones head in the sand so that others may suffer the same torment at the hand of an aggressor. There is mercy in Justice. As long as the justice brought about it appropriate in the eyes of God and does not bear hatred or any sin.

I don't remember correctly but it was either St.Augustine or St.Thomas Aquinas who talk about that subject so my re-telling of it is a bit shady at best.

totus tuus

philologos wrote: »

Is erotic fiction any better than pornography, ultimately?

The publishing house was an investment to help run the 12 Diosces. It's likely that it was left to those in the know to run the business, which includes sourcing material, I doubt if the Bishops had any hand in it's running. However, when it came to their attention, they came to the decision to sell it - the suit for libel/slander would likely hold up the sale!?

Sonics2k

totus tuus wrote: »

The publishing house was an investment to help run the 12 Diosces. It's likely that it was left to those in the know to run the business, which includes sourcing material, I doubt if the Bishops had any hand in it's running. However, when it came to their attention, they came to the decision to sell it - the suit for libel/slander would likely hold up the sale!?

And yet they continue to allow erotic/pornographic items to still be sold on the site.

The site appears to be the top German online book site, secondary only to Amazon (as it says in the article), and for some reason they're having a hard time selling it?

Do they not also own Blue Panther Books (NSFW) which is still in the business of Pornographic/Erotic books.

Twist it all you want, it's a Church owned and operated site that provides large amount of pornographic material. Or are you trying to claim they did absolutely no research on the company before investing/purchasing it? They just picked on at random.

philologos

totus tuus wrote: »

The publishing house was an investment to help run the 12 Diosces. It's likely that it was left to those in the know to run the business, which includes sourcing material, I doubt if the Bishops had any hand in it's running. However, when it came to their attention, they came to the decision to sell it - the suit for libel/slander would likely hold up the sale!?

The publishing house produces erotic books. Surely people should be able to trust in God's promise that He will be with us until the end of the age. We are called to send the Gospel out to all nations (Matthew 28:20).

Believers should be willing to give to further the Gospel, and the church should be using that money for that purpose?

Fanny Cradock

While I'm inclined to give people (and some organisations) the benefit of the doubt, that they still have done nothing about it really begins to strain credulity - surely even of the faithful.

totus tuus

The bishops own just 24% of the shares, sheds a bit more light on it, don't you think? Perhaps they have sold them since!?

At present, 12 of Germany’s 27 dioceses own just over 24 percent of the shares in the publishing firm. Some dioceses have already divested themselves of their stock in recent years, including the Archdiocese of Cologne which is led by Cardinal Meisner.

Today’s announcement comes only weeks after Pope Benedict XVI criticized the German bishops for their investments.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/german-bishops-to-quickly-sell-shares-in-porn-publisher/

Sonics2k

Onesimus wrote: »

The Church didnt intentionally set out to endorse a company that sells erotic books from the beginning but that the relationship with the publisher turned sour upon finding out what it was they were distributing.

So wait, you're saying they invested in and purchased a publishing company without doing any research on what they sold? If we assume they aren't the most gifted of folks, then maybe it's possible.

But in all the years since they purchased them, they then never bothered to check what they were publishing and endorsing? Really?

Onesimus wrote: »

Being ordinary men that we are, there is a process that will probably take a long time to sever the tie due to a whole legal process our simple minds just cannot get around.

Um, maybe yours. Both the publishing firm and website are highly profitable, any smart businessman would be hugely interested in taking over either firm.
As businessmen they also should have ensured a proper contract, but I guess that would have involved actually inspecting the company.

Onesimus wrote: »

But whatever the case may be, I'm sure it is getting sorted.

It's been over a year since the story broke and nothing yet.

Remainder of post edited by Mod due to quoting of an off-topic deleted post.

skooterblue2

totus tuus wrote: »

The bishops [own just 24% of the shares, sheds a bit more light on it, don't you think?

Is that all? About the same amount of shares that RyanAir own in AerLingus or JP Mc Manus and John Magnier owned in Man United when they had a few odd shares. Thanks for clarifying. Any news on how many other share holders there were and their stake? Just putting it in perspective thats all!

totus tuus

In a Nov. 22 statement, Weltbild said it welcomed the decision of the bishops as it had been impossible to “adequately restrict the internet-supported dissemination and production of media that contradicted the ideals of the shareholders."

Onesimus

Sonics2k wrote: »

So wait, you're saying they invested in and purchased a publishing company without doing any research on what they sold? If we assume they aren't the most gifted of folks, then maybe it's possible.

But in all the years since they purchased them, they then never bothered to check what they were publishing and endorsing? Really?



Um, maybe yours. Both the publishing firm and website are highly profitable, any smart businessman would be hugely interested in taking over either firm.
As businessmen they also should have ensured a proper contract, but I guess that would have involved actually inspecting the company.


It's been over a year since the story broke and nothing yet.



Completely off-topic and you trying to divert from the topic.

Your post is full of your own ''theories'' as to whats going on. It doesnt hold water. and one could safely assume that at the beginning this is not the material the company sold. Have you yourself investigated the company? is this what they sold from the beginning? if so then why are you marching into this forum with the ''I know it all'' attitude?

Edited by Mod to remove off-topic diversion.

skooterblue2

totus tuus wrote: »

.....and the Pope made it known that said shares be rid of because of the pornographic issues involved. The OP posted in such a way that made it look as if the RCC owned the publishers instead of 12 German Bishops, who made a bad call.

I am confused .... 12 catholic bishops took a punt on a publishing company. Despite 7 years at the seminary and loads of financial and legal advice they never thought to checked the past record. If you were backing a horse in a race you would at least check to see how the running gluepot performed in the past. Let alone your churches money. I dont see the separation of RCC and 12 separate bishops acting in unison.

Atleast they didnt lose money ..... gotta love that german efficency ...... and the top shelf material

Sonics2k

Onesimus wrote: »

Yes its wrong and should not be happening. And they must do it quickly. And us Catholics should make our voices heard to the people in Church that it should get sorted out and fast.

But I'm not going to allow people march in and pretend to be the ''know it alls'' as to whats happening and the churches intentions. Nor am I bound to even have any faith in this journalism either but to view it from a safe distance.

I just wanted to say my comments have little to do with your actual faith, more the blatant hypocrisy coming from these men.

They have known about the erotic/pornographic their own site was selling for ten years. And they owned 50% in another company that actually publishes (it still does) erotic/porn books. Even members of the congregation spoke to the bishops about it, and were ignored.Read here

Again, this has nothing to do with actual faith in itself, but it's more about why people should trust and listen to these people who are so happy to break their own rules.

And don't try claiming the Vatican didn't know about it. There is no chance these Bishops ran numerous, highly profitable ($1.7 billion turnover) and well known companies without the Vatican knowing.

skooterblue2

totus tuus wrote: »

..... instead of 12 German Bishops, who made a bad call.

Who said they made a bad call? They invested in a €1.7 Bn company? the lads deserve a clap on the back. I wish I got their advice before I put my communion money into Eircom shares. Crafty Germans!!

Benny_Cake

philologos wrote: »

Is erotic fiction any better than pornography, ultimately?

In a practical level, yes it is - witness many of the broken lives of performers who have been chewed up and spit out by the pornography industry.

I think that the question here though is one of hypocrisy, and I can't believe the way that some Catholic posters are reacting. I'm trying to imagine them showing the same level of understanding if Weltbild was Lutheran-owned.

mdebets

totus tuus wrote: »

.....and the Pope made it known that said shares be rid of because of the pornographic issues involved. The OP posted in such a way that made it look as if the RCC owned the publishers instead of 12 German Bishops, who made a bad call.

So it looks like, these bishops + a few other Catholic organisations, who also own stock in the company are disobeying the Pope, as they are not going to sell their stocks. Instead they creating a Church Foundation (not sure if this is the correct legal term) and transferring all their stock to it. (see here, sorry the press relese is only in German).

Clockwork Owl

What actually concerns me the most here is that, rather than humbly acknowledging their mistake of (accidentally or otherwise) funding the distribution of material contrary to RCC dogma, Weltbild's response is to nit-pick at journalistic hyperbole and threaten legal action. In my eyes, it doesn't matter how many books were sold, what they want to call them or what percentage of Weltbild's profit was made up of sexually explicit material. What matters is that these German bishops try to best represent the Catholic Church by recognising their failings, taking ownership of them and then seeking to remedy them as quickly and genuinely as possible.

Instead, they have gone on the offensive and sought to distract from the very core of the problem via Weltbild's legal department, defending their actions in legal terminology rather than religious doctrine. Legally wrangling that 'erotic fiction is completely different to pornography' is nothing but an exercise in pedantry and strawmanship because, regardless of medium, pornography is explicit sexual content intended to arouse the user. That it's written in a book does little to nullify that.

I also think it's a damned shame that it took a public scandal for the bishops involved to actually take action, rather than applying Catholic principles early on. According to Catholic magazine PUR, complaints were sent privately by concerned Catholics in 2008 that drew attention to Weltbild's publication of inappropriate books, and the majority of these were ignored. I struggle to believe that these bishops, who I understand wholly own Weltbild as a collective (24% by the Association of German Dioceses, 13% by the Archbishopric of Munich-Freising, 12% by the Diocese of Trier, 11% by the Diocese of Augsburg, etc) were not aware of what was being sold before now, and believe it even less when they claim ignorance after three years of apparent inactivity and apathy.

And let's not even get into the business of the bishops apparently turning down an offer in 2009 because they didn't feel that it was high enough.

sbsquarepants

number66 wrote: »

I suspect if all the Vatican Banks investments where public knowledge a little porn would be the least to be concerned about.

I'd say you're right there!

Onesimus wrote: »

Yes I'm sure the Catholic Church agree that the selling of porn is legit and ''okay'':rolleyes:

This is mother Church and is full of people who create and cause failures. We pray that they get it sorted sooner than later.

Getting away from this publisher might not be as easy as the ordinary man thinks, there is more behind the scenes than we know so we should not assume the worst and just pray that they get it all back on track. These things happen even to the best of us.

Delusional

Onesimus wrote: »

The Church didnt intentionally set out to endorse a company that sells erotic books from the beginning but that the relationship with the publisher turned sour upon finding out what it was they were distributing.

Being ordinary men that we are, there is a process that will probably take a long time to sever the tie due to a whole legal process our simple minds just cannot get around.

But whatever the case may be, I'm sure it is getting sorted.
Mod Edit: Reference to deleted off-topic post removed

Sad and delusional

Onesimus wrote: »

Yes its wrong and should not be happening. And they must do it quickly. And us Catholics should make our voices heard to the people in Church that it should get sorted out and fast.

But I'm not going to allow people march in and pretend to be the ''know it alls'' as to whats happening and the churches intentions. Nor am I bound to even have any faith in this journalism either but to view it from a safe distance.

But they must get a good price first and foremost - that's what's really important eh!

The ability of some people to just point blank refuse to accept what's staring them in the face is incredible. Face facts - the church is a business. They don't care about kids being raped so long as the money keeps rolling, so they're hardly going to loose sleep about some german housewife flicking her bean are they!

Run_to_da_hills

I would certainly not approve of any Church participating in a business that has anything got to do with the works of darkness. However there are many Christians on this site that read from the NIV Bible.

These people should be aware that these Bibles are published by Zondovian whose parent company is Harper Collins publications owned by Rupert Murdock. Harper Collins publications are also sole publishers for the Satanic Bible and the Joys of Gay sex. :eek:

So Christians that support Murdock's Harper Collins publications by purchasing a copy of the NIV Bible have no right to criticise the Catholic Church on this matter.

skooterblue2

I think you are to have a hard job in the Media world NOT to run into Rupert Murdoch. BSkyB, Fox, The Sun, The Sunday Times (I think). I am no fan of the man I think it is unhealthy for him to have that sort of controlling interest. I have a special cudgel for Bill O Reilly of Fox News. I understand the Chinese wanting to keep him out.

If you dont like it Vote with your feet and wallets. But we all like the Simpsons and Sky sports etc. Look at the pasting he gave Blair (warranted or not) when he didnt play ball.

PDN

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

So Christians that support Murdock's Harper Collins publications by purchasing a copy of the NIV Bible have no right to criticise the Catholic Church on this matter.

You do realise that there's a teeny weeny difference between buying a book and owning the publishing cmpany?

georgieporgy

I haven't researched this particular scandal much, but has it occurred to anyone that some 'renegades' may be involved in order to inflict further damage on the Church?
There are quite a few troublesome individuals in Germany and Austria anxious to go their own way, often applauded by the ususal suspects.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/09/17/uk-austria-church-idUKTRE78G1F220110917

Dissidents led by parish priest Helmut Schueller have issued the manifesto and say they hope the campaign will persuade Schoenborn to push reforms with Pope Benedict and the Vatican.
The dissidents, who have broad public backing in opinion polls, say they will break Church rules by giving communion to Protestants and remarried divorced Catholics or by allowing lay people to preach and head parishes without a priest.