Don't stop there...

In Australia for the World Youth shindig, once again the Pope has issued another overweening apology for the evil sex abuse perpetrated by, well, who else!?:

"Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday offered his strongest public statement yet on sex abuse against minors by Roman Catholic priests, apologizing to victims and calling the abuse "evil."

The apology came during a mass in Sydney, Australia, and expands on comments the pope made during an April visit to the United States, during which he publicly acknowledged the pain the church's sex abuse scandal has caused and met privately with abuse victims."

Way to go popester, screw it on, baby! But forgive me if I'm less than impressed, given that the Catholic church's chief cook and bottle-washer was also one of the architects of the systemic cover-up of that same "evil". Res ipsa loquitur, Popie-honey-baby, it speaks for itself.

What's that? Oh boo hoo hoo! *slap*

Georgie and the Pope

Pope Benedict XVI is in Washington DC right this very minute, meeting with Georgie. The Pedophile Priest Damage Control Road Show is on a roll:

"POPE Benedict XVI has begun a visit to the US, hoping to heal wounds left in the local church by a decades-long sex scandal he said made him feel deep shame.

The 80-year-old pontiff was given an unprecedented welcome by US President George W. Bush, who was with his wife, Laura, and daughter, Jenna, at Andrews Air Force base near Washington to greet him.

No president has ever welcomed a visiting head of state at the airport."

That's not too surprising -- these days Georgie must have all kinds of spare time for hangin' with Benny. But anyway...

"Benedict will address the sex scandal that has left the US church financially strapped and morally battered at a meeting with Catholic clergy."

Yay! Finally.

"But he is not expected to see victims of priests."

Maybe I'm missing something, but how does he address the sex scandal and "heal the wounds" without seeing any victims? I know he's got that infallibility thing going on, but wow. That's impressive. But never mind that...

The Pope is motoring around DC in the Popemobile, a vehicle that's always fascinated and thrilled me. No doubt its driver will be adhering to the Vatican's Ten Commandments for Driving:

"Got road rage? The Vatican on Tuesday issued a set of “Ten Commandments” for drivers, telling motorists to be charitable to others on the highways, to refrain from drinking and driving, and to pray you make it before you even buckle up." [...]

"The document, “Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road,” extols the benefits of driving —family outings, getting the sick to the hospital, allowing people to see other cultures.

But it laments a host of ills associated with automobiles: Drivers use their cars to show off; driving “provides an easy opportunity to dominate others” by speeding; drivers can kill themselves and others if they don’t get their cars regular tuneups, if they drink, use drugs or fall asleep at the wheel."

Now I know where I've been going wrong -- I usually don't pray until the brakes fail.

The "one true church" makes one big payout

It's not the first, and it won't be the last. The Los Angeles roman catholic archdiocese is paying out $660million to settle sexual abuse lawsuits against it, the largest settlement so far in the church's sexual abuse scandal:

"LOS ANGELES - Hundreds of people who claim they were abused by clergy affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles can expect to be paid more than $1 million each in a $660 million settlement of their lawsuits. The deal, by far the largest settlement in the church's sexual abuse scandal, was reached Saturday, said Ray Boucher, the lead plaintiff's attorney." (...)

"An anonymous source with knowledge of the deal placed its value at $660 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal. The source spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the settlement had not been officially announced.

The amount, which would average a little more than $1.3 million per plaintiff, exceeded earlier reports that the settlement would be between $600 million and $650 million.

Some Roman Catholic orders — the Servites, Claretians and Oblates — will be carved out of the agreement because they refused to participate, the source said. The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the litigation, Boucher said.

The settlements push the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from the Los Angeles archdiocese."

Wow. And you have to wonder how many didn't launch lawsuits because they're too fucked up, ashamed, or maybe perpetuating the behaviour themselves.