The Catholic Church’s pedophilia investigator, in charge of child protection and interviewing adults who as children had been victims of pedophile priests today was jailed on pedophilia charges in England. 49-year old Christopher Jarvis, a married man with four children of his own, began serving his 12-month sentence after serving the Catholic Church for nine years in a dioscese that included 120 Catholic Churches. Jarvis admitted to the charges, which included possession of 4000 images of pre-pubescent boys, including several depicting sadism, child rape, and torture.

via Catholic Church’s Pedophilia Investigator Jailed For Pedophilia | The New Civil Rights Movement.

Members of the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Warr Acres, Oklahoma have expressed outrage at the recent installation of a 10-foot tall Crucifix above the altar:  Because they say it depicts Jesus with an enormously huge schlong.

The crucifix in question is based on th San Damiano cross, a common Catholic icon that originated in Italy in the 12th century and is widely associated with St. Francis of Assisi and the order he founded, the Franciscans.

“I think it’s an embarrassment to our Lord. I think it’s an embarrassment to our parishioners. And I think it’s an embarrassment to our visitors,” said one old lady.

“I was appalled at the sexualization of Christ.”

“I’m already very sensitive because of the pedophilia issue.”

Wait, what?

Two prominent atheists are planning a “legal ambush” to have Pope Benedict XVI arrested for “crimes against humanity” during a 4-day September state visit to Britain.

Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, and author Christopher Hitchens — with help from human rights lawyers — plan to employ the same legal principle (universal jurisdiction) that British authorities used to arrest the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998.

(Meanwhile, more than 10,000 people have signed a petition protesting the cost of the pope’s visits.)

Do Dawkins and Hitchens have a case, or are they just using the abuse scandal to bash religion?

This is a photo of the flower-crowned skull allegedly of Saint Valentine which is currently on display  in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome Italy.

Here’s the issue:  Saint Valentine (or in Latin, Valentinus) is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name “Valentine” apparently was quite popular as it meant “valor”. 

Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14, nothing is known except his name and that he was buried on February 14. 

It is even uncertain whether the feast of that day celebrates only one saint or more saints of the same name.   For this reason St. Valentine was not kept in the Catholic calendar of saints for universal liturgical veneration as revised in 1969.   Doubting Thomas?  Read it and weep for the fallen Saint.

So I wanna know who’s skull this really is!   

And how often do they change the flowers on the crown?

This week Pope Benedict  XVI took a major step to make it easier for disaffected Anglicans who feel their Church has become too liberal to convert to Roman Catholicism.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is the top official in the Church of England and the “first among equals” of the global church leaders that guide the 80-million-strong Anglican Communion.  That puts him in the crucial position of holding the Anglican faithful together in the wake of the Vatican’s surprise move this week.

Unlike Pope Benedict — who has singular authority over 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, Archbishop Williams can cajole and persuade, but in the end the many churches within the Anglican Communion have a great deal of autonomy, including the Church of England.

What’s his worry?

Archbishop Williams has found himself mired in controversial social change since 2003.  In that year, the Episcopal Church, the U.S. arm of Anglicanism, consecrated an openly gay bishop, sending the Anglican Communion into infighting that has shown no sign of letting up.    Add to this liberal Anglican practices of ordaining married priests and female bishops???  Heaven help us!!!

In a bid to keep the Anglican Communion together, Archbishop Williams has argued for a “two track” solution…one with the liberals who want gay bishops and the other with conservatives who oppose such policies, but they would all remain under the big tent of Anglicanism.

Here’s where Pope Benny swoops in and says…”Hey, conservative Anglicans…come to the Pope side…no gay Bishops over here!” (snicker snicker).   So the Pope gets a bunch of new converts (and their tithings) and the Archbishop is left with the liberal Anglican leftovers.

It’s like a big religious chessboard, where the winner takes your soul (and/or at least 15% of your income).

Pope makes it easier for Anglicans to convert | International | Reuters.