The facts are not in dispute — any longer.

“A widening child sexual abuse inquiry in Europe has landed at the doorstep of Pope Benedict XVI, as a senior church official acknowledged Friday that a German archdiocese made “serious mistakes” in handling an abuse case while the pope served as its archbishop.
The archdiocese said that a priest accused of molesting boys was given therapy in 1980″

Oh we know all about “therapy.”

“and later allowed to resume pastoral duties, before committing further abuses and being prosecuted. Pope Benedict, who at the time headed the archdiocese of Munich and Freising, approved the priest’s transfer for therapy. A subordinate took full responsibility for allowing the priest to later resume pastoral work, the archdiocese said in a statement.
Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he had no comment beyond the statement by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which he said showed the “nonresponsibility” of the pope in the matter.”

He’s a very busy man.

“The expanding abuse inquiry had come ever closer to Benedict as new accusations in Germany surfaced almost daily since the first reports in January. On Friday the pope met with the chief bishop of Germany to discuss allegations emerging from church investigations and media reports.”

And other sources.

“Allegations of problems in the German church have already come close to the pope, whose brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, 86, directed a choir connected to a boarding school where two former students have come forward with abuse claims. In an interview this week, Monsignor Ratzinger, who directed the choir from 1964 to 1994, said the accusations dated to before his tenure. He also apologized for slapping students. “

“At a news conference following a one-on-one meeting with Benedict on Friday, Archbishop Richard Zollitsch, the head of the German Bishops Conference, said the pope was “greatly upset” and “deeply moved” by the abuse allegations, and urged the German church to seek the truth and help the victims.
The meeting and news conference occurred before the statement from the Munich archdiocese.
Archbishop Zollitsch said the German church had vowed to investigate all allegations of abuse, encouraging victims to identify themselves even if the abuse happened decades ago. In recent weeks, hundreds of alleged abuse victims have come forward.
“The cases are growing every day,” said Thomas Pfister, a lawyer appointed by the German church to investigate abuse cases in the Ettal monastery boarding school in Bavaria. He said more than 100 people had contacted him so far.”

And we all know how slow the wheels of justice are to grind.

“Every day I receive e-mails from around the world from people who have been abused,” Mr. Pfister said, adding that the school had posted his email address on its web site to encourage this. “There has been a very big silence, now they want to have a voice.”
Experts said the scandals could undermine Benedict’s moral authority, especially because they cut particularly close to the pope himself. He led Vatican investigations into abuse for four years before assuming the papacy in 2005.

“Around the World” you say?

“The case in Munich, which was brought to the attention of the diocese by the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, was a result of “serious mistakes,” the archdiocese said in the statement. The priest from Essen, “despite allegations of sexual abuse, and in spite of a conviction — was repeatedly assigned work in the sphere of pastoral care by the then-Vicar General Gerhard Gruber,” who worked under Benedict, at the time Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger.
The priest, identified only with the initial “H,” was moved to Munich in January 1980, where he was supposed to undergo therapy, a decision that was taken “with the approval of the archbishop,” according to the statement. Benedict was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982.
In June 1986, chaplain was convicted of sexually abusing minors and given an 18-month suspended sentence with five years of probation, fined 4,000 Deutsche marks and ordered to undergo therapy.
But Mr. Gruber took full responsibility for the decision to reinstate the priest to pastoral work. “I deeply regret that this decision resulted in offenses against youths and apologize to all who were harmed by it,” Mr. Gruber, according to a statement posted on the archdiocese Web site.”

Hey, check out THIS website!

“At the news conference, Archbishop Zollitsch said he did not discuss Monsignor Ratzinger’s comments or the investigation into the choir school with the pope.
Experts said the growing scandal could also undermine a central theme of Benedict’s papacy. “What is at stake, and at great risk, is Benedict’s central project for the ‘re-Christianization’ of Christendom, his desire to have Europe return to its Christian roots,” said David Gibson, the author of a biography of Benedict and a religion commentator for Politicsdaily.com. “But if the root itself is seen as rotten, then his influence will be badly comprised.”
It is unclear how many cases have come to light.”

You want numbers? HERE!

” At the news conference, the archbishop said that the Bishops Conference had sent a questionnaire to dioceses to determine which kinds of abuse cases emerged, not how many, and was awaiting a response.
The scandal is not limited to Germany. This week, two dioceses in Austria suspended five priests pending investigations into allegations they physically and sexually molested students at Catholic schools. On Friday, two members of the Vienna Boys’ Choir alleged abuse; although the choir has no official ties to the church, it is a Catholic cultural icon.
The church in the Netherlands has said it would open an investigation after more than 200 people came forward in recent weeks, claiming they were sexually and physically abused in Catholic institutions. Last year, four Irish bishops stepped down following investigations into systematic abuse in Ireland.
Benedict is expected to issue a letter addressing the Irish, and now broader, abuse situation in the coming weeks.”

Ah Ireland. . .

“On Tuesday, the Vatican spokesman released a note saying that local churches in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands had responded with “timely and decisive action” to allegations.
To many observers, the situation in Europe looked unsettlingly similar to that in the United States a decade ago, when a trickle of isolated abuse cases steadily grew into a widespread phenomenon that upended — and bankrupted — many American dioceses.”

YEAH TEAM!!!!

“But in Europe, unlike in Common Law countries like the United States, Canada and Australia, defendants cannot sue the church for negligence.
“When this first started to break in the United States in the mid to late ‘80s and our bishops went to Rome for help in dealing with it, they were basically told, ‘This is an American problem,’” said Nicholas Cafardi, a Canon law expert, emeritus dean of Duquesne University School of Law and the author of “ Before Dallas: The U.S. Bishops’ Response to Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children.”
“But Human nature being human nature it wasn’t logical to say this only exists in the common law countries,” Mr. Cafardi added. “Our legal system brought it to light more quickly, in fact it’s not an American or common law problem, it’s a human problem.”
Mr. Pfister, the lawyer in Bavaria, noted that many of the victims wanted “retroactive justice,” even if the cases are not likely to be prosecuted because the statute of limitations in Germany requires some crimes to be reported within 10 years of the victim’s 18th birthday.
The political debate is brewing in Germany over broadening the statute of limitations on abuse cases.”

Broadening’s an excellent idea.

“Some politicians have accused the Vatican of obstructing civil justice. In the note on Tuesday, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, defended the Vatican’s reliance on Canon Law to punish perpetrators of sex abuse.”

Which in my experience means sending them to Palm Springs to run a “clothing optional” hotel.

In the news conference on Friday, Archbishop Zollitsch said that the German Bishops conference believed that any cleric accused of a crime should be handed over to civilian authorities unless the victim specifically opposed it.
He added that the pope supported measures the Bishops Conference was taking to tackle the issue, including participating in a round table discussion with members of the German government and abuse victims scheduled for April 23.
“The holy father was very satisfied with our decisions,” Archbishops Zollitsch said. “I’m grateful for the encouragement he gave me to continue carrying out our measures in a decisive and courageous way.”

Did he now? Well maybe this time he understands the continuance of his entire multi-national corporation is at stake.

And speaking of “Maybe This Time,” being that it’s her birthday — sing us out Liza!

John Roberts is pissed and he wants the whole world to know it.

“It’s no secret that many think the fierce mood of partisanship is routinely crippling Washington.”

That’s the going meme.

“While most of the fur flies between the major parties in Congress — with the president weighing in occasionally to keep his party leaders on message — this week has seen an outbreak of hostilities in a less traditional venue: between the Supreme Court and the president.”

“Less traditional”? Sez you.

“In a controversy stretching back to January’s State of the Union Address, Chief Justice John Roberts told a group of law students at the University of Alabama that President Obama’s very public dissent from the Court’s Citizens United ruling, which effectively rolled back most existing restraints on corporate funding of political campaigns, was a provocation to the court’s cherished independence.”

Independence form what? Surely not from the “Federalist Society.”

“On the other hand, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances, and the decorum,” said Roberts. “The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court — according the requirements of protocol — has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling.”

Here’s the video.

“Some of the lawmakers on hand interrupted Obama’s remarks with cheers of support. But television cameras panned the Court members in attendance and caught Justice Samuel Alito mouthing the words “not true.”
In Washington and in public debate, response to the dust-up split down partisan lines. Conservatives took issue with Obama’s criticism of the court, and liberals decried Alito’s breach of protocol. Outside of Washington, though, recent polling has shown that the decision is widely unpopular with Americans across the ideological spectrum.”

Clearly Roberts was “shocked” because he’s used to negroes appearing before the court like this.

“Of course, Roberts wasn’t always so hands-off with the Supreme Court. When he worked for the Reagan administration, he was an aggressive public advocate pressuring the Court and was privately highly critical of how it organized its own business.”

Well what’s good for the goose apparently isn’t good for the gander in The House of Roberts.

“And for all the hubbub, it’s worth recalling that smack-downs between the two branches of government, while rare, are not unheard of. In his memoir, President Clinton was critical of the 2000 Bush v. Gore decision that ended that year’s election; Nixon fumed about the Burger Court’s ruling that he couldn’t protect himself during Watergate with “executive privilege;” and way back in 1936, Franklin Roosevelt proposed an additional three justices to the Court so that he could appoint them himself and skew the Court’s decisions in favor of his New Deal proposals.
But it is somewhat rare that these battles are as public or intense as this one appears to be getting. That may be because the Court’s decision was an historic one justifying intense debate, or it may be because politics are getting more conflict-driven across the board.”

Oh I don’t think so. It’s just the same old crap that’s been going on since “Reconstruction.”

As for the lily-white Roberts clan, check out Little Lord Fauntleroy in short pants with bow tie.

I suspect he has a future in . . . .Musical Theater.

In which case he should take his cue from Harold.

That is unless he’s been watching Glee, in which case his role model may be — dare I say it?

As for Pop Roberts, next time President Obama riles you, just think of something pleasant to calm yourself down.

There. Don’t you feel better already?

Meanwhile in Kissimmee Florida –

“What an amazing night!

I’m just leaving the Kissimmee City Commission meeting where moments ago commissioners voted 4 to 1 to extend dometic partnership benefits to LGBT city employees. Art Otero was the only “no” vote.

I am so proud of Kissimmee City Commissioner Cheryl Grieb, who led this effort. Mallory Wells, our Public Policy Director and I have worked side-by-side with Commissioner Grieb for months and she has never backed down from pursuing what is right. Even when anti-gay forces threatened to protest, Commissioner Grieb wouldn’t be bullied. With her guidance and leadership we began the slow and tedious task of drumming up support on the commission and in the community.

Equality Florida provided research, ordinance language drafts and reached out to Kissimmee residents for support and the community stepped up with emails and phone calls like never before.

Thanks to everyone who wrote or called and to everyone who has supported our work allowing our community to rack up victories large and small. For me this victory is particularly sweet.

My partner Donald was born and raised in rural Osceola County and has been a part of the fabric of Kissimmee for much of his professional life. His personal stories and the political history of Kissimmee let me know right away this would be a tough fight. But it is in the unlikely places that winning can mean so much more.

Tonight, we celebrate Commissioner Cheryl Grieb as a champion. Tonight, she did what many thought was impossible. Kissimmee has now set a very high bar for community organizers and elected officials across the state. If you’ve ever thought, “We can never do that here,” Kissimmee is here to say - Yes you can!
Sincerely,
Joseph Saunders
State Field Director”

Looks like Kissimmee is going to be seceding from the rest of the state. Not surprise as every LGBT adept knows it’s the setting for the bublliest of all MGM musicals –

And I’m sure we’ll all be able to have an Abba-Dabba Homeymoon there soon, right kids?

Or maybe you’d like to go somewhere closer to home.

Take it away Kay!