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.

And the Catholic church wonders why people are leaving the church in record numbers…Pope Benedict says that condom use won’t help stop spread AIDS…and will only worsen the problem.

“You can’t resolve it with the distribution of condoms,” the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane heading to Yaounde. “On the contrary, it increases the problem.”

Benedict also said the Roman Catholic Church was at the forefront of the battle against AIDS.  He also added that the world is flat, the Earth is the center of the Universe, and Priests never diddle altar boys.

On Africa trip, pope says condoms won’t solve AIDS.

You see, generally the FIRST rule for secret confession tribunals is that WE DON’T TALK ABOUT SECRET CONFESSION TRIBUNALS.

But apparently Pope Benny don’t jet that way.

Really, four words that I personally LOVE to see together, Vatican, Secret, Confession AND Tribunal…these guys handle only the really toughest cases.

Have a run-of-the-mill confession of genocide, child rape, or mass murder?   Don’t even bother the VSCT…for those everyday absolutions, the church will refer you to your local priest or bishop.

No, the VSCT only covers things like defiling the Eucharist (I swear…I SNEEZED!!!).   Or paying for an abortion and then later becoming a priest.

“Even though it’s the oldest department of the Holy See, it’s very little known — specifically because by its nature it deals with secret things.”

Oh Dan Brown, where art thou?

Vatican secret confession tribunal opens up – Faith- msnbc.com.