UNITED KINGDOM
The Freethinker
BY BARRY DUKE – SEPTEMBER 25, 2013
IN A letter to Italian atheist mathematician Piergiorgio Odifreddi, the Vatican’s shadow Pope Ratzinger has vigorously defended his handling of allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy – and “politely” criticised the logician’s total reliance on scientific facts for The Meaning of Life.
Ratzinger deplored the fact that Odifreddi had depicting the Church as the only place where such “deviation” and “filth” occurred. And where they did occur in the Church:
I never sought to conceal these things.
According to this report, the publication of the retired Pope’s leter to the atheist scholar on September 24 came in the same month as a letter written by Pope Number One – Frankie – to an Italian journalist concerning dialogue with non-believers. Both letters were published, with the two Popes’ permission, by the Italian daily La Repubblica.
The newspaper released long excerpts of Pope Benedict’s original 11-page response to Odifreddi, a prolific science writer who authored the book, Dear Pope, I Write to You in 2011.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.