Pope 'has no UK arrest immunity'

[stephen]

Pope Benedict XVI 'would not be immune from arrest' in the UK, solicitor says
Plans to have the Pope arrested when he visits the UK will succeed because he is not a head of state, a solicitor has said.

Atheist authors Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens proposed the action against the Pontiff for his handling of child abuse scandals in the Catholic church.

The writers' solicitor Mark Stephens said applications will be made to courts in the UK and the International Criminal Court for a warrant for Pope Benedict XVI's arrest.

His likely defence would be be that he is immune from prosecution during his visit to Britain in September, according to the lawyer.

Mr Stephens said: "The courts will examine the claim of immunity. I believe that an English court would reject it. If the Pope was here on a state visit, ordinarily a head of state would have sovereign immunity. What I believe is that because he's not a sovereign, not a head of state, he's not entitled to the defence."

He said that the Vatican was declared to be a state by Benito Mussolini, but this had no standing in international law.

The Pope faced criticism after it emerged that he signed a letter which delayed the punishment of a paedophile priest in the US for the "good of the universal church".

Writing in 1985, the future Pontiff said that he needed more time to consider the case.

Mr Stephens, who has represented abuse victims in the past said: "This will require the Pope to deal with the way in which he appears to have prioritised the reputation of the Catholic church over the welfare of children."

Potential charges against the Pope would be crimes against humanity.

 

[harvest08]

UK Pope Arrest?

Whilst this may or may not be a good thing, the thousands of children around the world who have lived damaged lives, having their very foundations stolen by offenders in "religious" garb and have had to endure life in very harsh emotional circumstances. At some stage someone has to step up to the plate and repatriate the wrongs. Globally this has not been done with the conviction of spirit led people.


I have followed the global story of institutional child abuse, as this is where I came from, to the point of writing my first book on the subject, and have had my first article published here in Australia.


Many "religious" organizations are guilty of these sins, yet they rarely, if ever have admitted their sins. They have side stepped the sin and run and hid not wanting to be exposed. I sincerely hope God brings them out and makes them accountable as Mark 9 42 states. Its His word!



Mark 9:42 Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

 

[stephen]

Whilst this may or may not be a good thing, the thousands of children around the world who have lived damaged lives, having their very foundations stolen by offenders in "religious" garb and have had to endure life in very harsh emotional circumstances. At some stage someone has to step up to the plate and repatriate the wrongs. Globally this has not been done with the conviction of spirit led people.


I have followed the global story of institutional child abuse, as this is where I came from, to the point of writing my first book on the subject, and have had my first article published here in Australia.


Many "religious" organizations are guilty of these sins, yet they rarely, if ever have admitted their sins. They have side stepped the sin and run and hid not wanting to be exposed. I sincerely hope God brings them out and makes them accountable as Mark 9 42 states. Its His word!



Mark 9:42 Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Your action is to be praised in this grave matter...Harvest08

God speed your action....and blessings to you.....in Jesus

 

[harvest08]

UK Pope Arrest?

Thank you for your supportive message Stephen, this subject does not receive the outcry that it should. Jesus often spoke about the innocent children and making us very responsible for their up bringing and care.

Running and hiding from sin will never see any forgiveness and redemption. 1 John is very clear.

God Bless,

Mark

 

[SpiritLedEd]

Writing in 1985, the future Pontiff said that he needed more time to consider the case.

Old cowboy movies in the United States depict wagon trains being defended during attacks by placing the wagons in a circle and using them for protection. When the pedophile scandal erupted in the States, the bishops of the U.S.Catholic Church gathered some prominenent Catholic lay leaders as a commission to investigate and make recommendations on how to handle the problem. However, when law suits began to be filed, some bishops were worried about the monetary consequences that loomed. Members of the commission complained that the bishops were not being forthcoming, that they were in fact circling the wagons to protect the church's assets. The terrible truth was that some bishops were indeed more concerned with protecting the church's fiscal structure than admitting the wrong and giving the victims justice.

SLE

 

[Diamondlight]

Interesting topic! I have three lines of thought on this.

My first is, that i'm sure the govt. will find a clause somewhere in some antiquated law that offers a reason why he can't be arrested.

My second is James 1:27

My third is to wonder if many of the people directly concerned could not rally together and cause him to be held accountable retrospectively?

 

[harvest08]

UK Pope Arrest?

Interesting topic! I have three lines of thought on this.

My first is, that i'm sure the govt. will find a clause somewhere in some antiquated law that offers a reason why he can't be arrested.

My second is James 1:27

My third is to wonder if many of the people directly concerned could not rally together and cause him to be held accountable retrospectively?

Wise comments Diamondlight, the Governments in my country have failed to legislate that perpetrators are directly responsible for their actions from real forgiveness to repatriating lives they damaged.

Totally agree with James 1:27. As for people uniting together, well I can only speak for my country but there is a lot of fear and embarrassment instilled into victims whilst in "care" and these are hard to remove. Time and the insidious laws of limitations often kill off the ability to achieve desired outcomes. We keep trying though!