Pope forgives lady....or publicity stunt

opinion guy · 14-01-2010 02:18AM #1

I saw the headline "Pope meets and forgives Christmas Eve Mass Attack Woman" and I thought well fair ply to him then - he didn't have to do that, that was pretty nice. But then I read the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8457618.stm

and in it I saw :

The Vatican is continuing a legal case against Ms Maiolo.

closely followed by

The Pope inquired about Ms Maiolo's health and "wanted to demonstrate his forgiveness".

and well the whole thing just looked a lot more cynical to me. I mean it seems to me if the Pope forgives a mentally ill lady for acting out beyond her control, the very LEAST the Vatican could do is drop the legal case. I mean it is after all, loaded with money. What are the Vatican going to achieve by taking money from a sick lady ? More than that - it seems to me that the truly Christian forgiving thing to do for the poor lady, would be to pay for her care and see that she gets the help that she needs. No ?

So it seems that this "demonstrating his forgiveness" is merely PR at its finest.

Agree ? Disagree ? Purple Monkey Dishwasher ?

Borneo Fnctn · 14-01-2010 02:21AM

So what? That's his job. What's next? "Plumber fixes leak" ?

FearDark · 14-01-2010 02:21AM

The Popes an eejit.

The_Minister · 14-01-2010 02:22AM

That time the last Pope got shot?
He forgave the guy too.
Doesn't mean he asked for the guy to be let out of jail.

I assume that she is being tried under Vatican law, in the same way that a crazy person who attacked McAleese would be.
He may be seeking to have a restraining order on her - I know I would.

Forgiveness doesn't mean turning your back on someone.

jif · 14-01-2010 02:22AM

attacking one man is hardly a mass attack is it.

admiralofthefleet · 14-01-2010 02:23AM

when is he going to apologise for all the child abuse cover ups, hoarding of nazi gold and leading the worlds most dangerous, evil cult?

alan4cult · 14-01-2010 02:23AM

jif wrote: »

attacking one man is hardly a mass attack is it.

lol mass :pac:

irish_goat · 14-01-2010 02:23AM

Since he runs the Vatican and they're still pursuing the case he clearly hasn't forgiven her at all. Hypocrisy yes but what do you expect from them really?

Ruu_Old · 14-01-2010 02:25AM

Great bunch of PR people like that overblown press kit (as Gabriel Byrne put it

), the Bible.

The_Minister · 14-01-2010 02:25AM

irish_goat wrote: »

Since he runs the Vatican and they're still pursuing the case he clearly hasn't forgiven her at all. Hypocrisy yes but what do you expect from them really?

Maybe he is getting a restraining order?

Nothing in the article says he is looking for damages.

ScumLord · 14-01-2010 02:35AM

opinion guy wrote: »

I saw the headline "Pope meets and forgives Christmas Eve Mass Attack Woman" and I thought well fair ply to him then - he didn't have to do that, that was pretty nice.

He did have to forgive her it's kind of a major part of the Christian doctrine. I bet his secretly sickened he has to do it.

Morlar · 14-01-2010 02:42AM

The_Minister wrote: »

Maybe he is getting a restraining order?

Nothing in the article says he is looking for damages.

Exactly. If they dropped the case there would be no requirement for her to get any kind of help whatsoever. Also this way they would have grounds for barring her from within a certain range of the Pope which is not surprising considering this was not her first time. It's ridiculous to say this court case is about compensation.

jaarius · 14-01-2010 03:03AM

opinion guy wrote: »

I mean it seems to me if the Pope forgives a mentally ill lady for acting out beyond her control, the very LEAST the Vatican could do is drop the legal case.

I don't agree with that.

Just because he has forgiven her doesn't mean she shouldn't be punished. If some guy lifts my wallet I might forgive him (unlikely) but he should still get slap on wrist.

There has to be some deterrent, right?

j

oppenheimer1 · 14-01-2010 03:03AM

jif wrote: »

attacking one man is hardly a mass attack is it.

ba-dum-tish!

mikom · 14-01-2010 03:32AM

opinion guy wrote: »

"Pope meets and forgives Christmas Eve Mass Attack Woman"

Wow, the pope is such a pushover...

opinion guy · 14-01-2010 03:39AM

jaarius wrote: »

I don't agree with that.

Just because he has forgiven her doesn't mean she shouldn't be punished. If some guy lifts my wallet I might forgive him (unlikely) but he should still get slap on wrist.

There has to be some deterrent, right?

j

But she's not a criminal. She is ill. Deterrent is irrelevant since she can't think straight. Punishment is not applicable

jimmycrackcorm · 14-01-2010 03:52AM

the pope forgives the woman but the vatican wants to make sure that .it doesn't become a regular free for all. Next story please.

Morlar · 14-01-2010 04:02AM

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

the pope forgives the woman but the vatican wants to make sure that .it doesn't become a regular free for all. Next story please.

Amen.

TheZohanS · 14-01-2010 04:06AM

Personally I wouldn't be looking for forgiveness from someone that was in The Hitler Youth, an organisation that fought for Hitler against the allies in WW2.

Ridley · 14-01-2010 04:49AM

TheZohan wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't be looking for forgiveness from someone that was in The Hitler Youth, an organisation that fought for Hitler against the allies in WW2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V03-nKRRBBc

Dj Stiggie · 14-01-2010 06:22AM

TheZohan wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't be looking for forgiveness from someone that was in The Hitler Youth, an organisation that fought for Hitler against the allies in WW2.

That argument gets thrown around way too much. While I don't like the Pope, he had no choice, it was mandatory for boys to join the Hitler Youth, you were punished otherwise.

Degag · 14-01-2010 06:31AM

jaarius wrote: »

I don't agree with that.

Just because he has forgiven her doesn't mean she shouldn't be punished. If some guy lifts my wallet I might forgive him (unlikely) but he should still get slap on wrist.

There has to be some deterrent, right?

j

Three Hail Marys and an Our Father?

bonerm · 14-01-2010 11:05AM

She should have kicked him up the arse and taken a photo. He wouldn't have believed anyone would have the guts to try such a thing to him.

NothingMan · 14-01-2010 11:13AM

That would be an ecumenical matter.

AudreyHepburn · 14-01-2010 12:55PM

opinion guy wrote: »

But she's not a criminal. She is ill. Deterrent is irrelevant since she can't think straight. Punishment is not applicable

Not so ill that she didn't know exactly what she was doing. She's tried this before apparently.

She tried to attack an 82 year old man and managed to break the hip of an 87 year old so she deserves some kind of reprimand.

But to keep on topic, if the Pope chooses to forgive her that's his business and I'm sure he has his reasons.

Interesting that no-one question's John Paul II's forgiving the man who shot him.

Double standards perhaps?

By the way to whoever mentioned the Pope being Hitler Youth, if you bothered to read your history you'd know that when Hitler came to power he made it obligatory for every young German to be a member of the Hitler Youth whether they agreed with it or not. Just because he was a member does not mean he was a Nazi or that he agreed with Hitler.

Also you can't assume that he knew about the Sexual Abuse scandals that happened here. They were so well covered up that I would think there is a good chance he never knew anything about. I don't think he's ever even been to Ireland.

He shouldn't have to assume responsability and apologise for the monsters responsible.

Meeja Ireland · 14-01-2010 01:10PM

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Also you can't assume that he knew about the Sexual Abuse scandals that happened here. They were so well covered up that I would think there is a good chance he never knew anything about. I don't think he's ever even been to Ireland.

As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he personally formulated the Church-wide policy of cover-up and non-cooperation. He couldn't be more responsible for the abuse of thousands of children if he had been standing by with a tub of Astroglide.

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

He shouldn't have to assume responsability and apologise for the monsters responsible.

No. He should be extradited and tried.

Voodu Child · 14-01-2010 01:25PM

Pope Benedict XVI has had a meeting with the mentally disturbed woman who knocked him over at Mass on Christmas Eve, and has forgiven her.

So much for Papal Unfallibility...

bonerm · 14-01-2010 01:29PM

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

By the way to whoever mentioned the Pope being Hitler Youth, if you bothered to read your history you'd know that when Hitler came to power he made it obligatory for every young German to be a member of the Hitler Youth whether they agreed with it or not. Just because he was a member does not mean he was a Nazi or that he agreed with Hitler.

Agreed. It was not Ratzingers choice or decision to be part of the Hitler Youth so I think it's unfair for people to keep bringing it up when casting him in a negative light.

Thankfully in this country we don't have an evil, untouchable & morally corrupt organisation that recruits children into their membership before they even have a chance to have their say on the matter. Oh wait...

stovelid · 14-01-2010 01:55PM

Well, he's hardly going to say I hope that rabid bint gets cancer, is he?

AARRRGH · 14-01-2010 02:30PM

Speaking of the Pope...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805470859/?tag=buzz0f-20

Look at the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" section...

humanji · 14-01-2010 02:31PM

Dj Stiggie wrote: »

That argument gets thrown around way too much. While I don't like the Pope, he had no choice, it was mandatory for boys to join the Hitler Youth, you were punished otherwise.

Well with the Pope being God's representative on Earth, you'd think He would of intervened. Funny how they can pick and choose when God is omnipotent.

Pope forgives lady....or publicity stunt

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