In the wake of another Catholic Church sex scandal, the Pope's brother—a former choirmaster at a church boarding school—admits that he used to slap his young charges around, but denies ever messing with them. @9:50 AM 11
"Pope Benedict XVI has criticised the use of airport body scanners, insisting that 'human dignity must be preserved.'" @1:35 PM 13
Pope's Wrist Fallible And Other News @11:05 AM
My usual Friday attack of Let This Week Be Over Syndrome came early this week (if you're scoring at home, here's exactly when it happened), and I'll try to gut it out and take you through the rest of the day, but man am I finding it hard to care. Still, here are a couple of things you might be interested in. READ MORE 7
Sainted Celebrity Doesn't Like Mondays, Italian Anti-Poverty Policies @10:00 AM
Today in unlikely celebrity juxtapositions: "Bob Geldof joined the Pope to turn up the pressure on Silvio Berlusconi yesterday with a strident attack on the Italian Prime Minister's record on aid before this week's G8 summit." Although seeing as Bob Geldof probably considers himself to be the Pope anyway, it's maybe a little less ridiculous than it seems at first glance. Anyway, I'm sure it's a nice break for Silvio; I'd rather be condemned for fucking the poor than for fucking a bunch of prostitutes. 1
Web 2.Pope @12:00 PM
Yeah, uh, pass, thanks: "You won't get a chance to poke him, but a new Vatican website is offering a Facebook application to 'meet the Pope'. The Roman Catholic church is keen to use the networking site to woo young people back and its www.pope2you.net
site has has gone live. Another application allows the faithful to see the pontiff's speeches and messages on their iPhones or iPods." 10
Pope Not Sorry About Holocaust @10:47 AM
Joseph Alois Ratzinger—also known as "Joey The Hat," "Benny 10-6," and "The Pope"—is facing criticism from Israelis who are bothered by a speech he gave yesterday at Yad Vashem, the country's national Holocaust memorial. The Israelis are upset that the Pope did not apologize for the Catholic Church's role during the genocide.
"Something was missing," said Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau. "There was no mention of the Germans or the Nazis who participated in the butchery, nor a word of regret. If not an apology, then an expression of remorse." READ MORE 25
