The New Civil Rights Movement reports on the Holy Roman Catholic Pope's first tweet and his blessing of a Ugandan politician promising to kill homosexuals for Christmas. Xeni shared video of the tweet earlier. "Pope Benedict XVI yesterday sent his first tweet from his new Twitter account, then turned around and blessed Rebecca Kadaga, the Speaker of the Uganda Parliament who promised to pass the 'Kill The Gays' bill as a 'Christmas gift' to Uganda’s Christians."

  • deskjockey

    Ooh! Do I get to say it this time?

    Christ, what an asshole…

    • niktemadur

      Christ, what an asshole…
      Amen.

  • http://profiles.google.com/kisnerp Peter Kisner

    Interestingly, as Wikipedia would have it:

    “Several Christian organizations oppose [the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill], including the Roman Catholic Church,”

    “Uganda’s Catholic Archbishop of Kampala Cyprian Lwanga stated in December 2009 that the bill was unnecessary and “at odds with the core values” of Christianity, expressing particular concerns at the death penalty provisions. Lwanga argued that instead homosexuals should be encouraged to seek rehabilitation. For its part, the Holy See has maintained excellent relations with Uganda, with Pope Benedict XVI receiving the Ugandan ambassador in December 2009 and commending the climate of freedom and respect in the country towards the Catholic Church. During this meeting, there was no mention of the anti-homosexuality bill. However, three days earlier the Vatican legal attaché to the United Nations stated that “Pope Benedict is opposed to ‘unjust discrimination’ against gay men and lesbians”.”

    Not that this can be interpreted as a change in the Roman Catholic position on homosexuality.
    But I’m not sure that the blessing mentioned should be seen as a ringing endorsement of the Speaker’s involvement in this bill either.

    • peregrinus

      Doesn’t that all depend on how the roman catholic church defines ‘*unjust* discrimination’?

      I think I spy a little sneaky extra word in that two word sentence that is an ethical wolf in sheep’s clothing.  And it’s not ‘discrimination’.

      After all, the vatican didn’t seem to think, feel or believe that hiding decades of child abuse and thwarting the laws of various countries was ‘unjust’.  They’re very good at hiding in plain site – hiding paedophiles, hiding the truth, hiding money, hiding confessors to crimes, hiding children, hiding suffering, hiding inaction, hiding bias and distortion, ad infinitum.

      And just for dessert, what is ‘just’ discrimination?

      • Alan Ball

        Just discrimination is not allowing pedophiles to swim in kiddie pools?

    • wysinwyg

      As if the RCC had never spoken out of both sides of its mouth before.  What’s its official policy on birth control?  How many white, middle class, birth control-using Catholics have been excommunicated on those grounds?

      • Cormacolinde

        From what I’ve read, it’s “unlawful”, but not grounds for excommunication.

    • Mitchell Glaser

      I call that being an apologist, Mr. Kisner. How many horrifically awful things do you have to do before someone like the Pope can no longer ignore them in favor of your good points?

  • http://billmcgonigle.com bill_mcgonigle

    Seems like a poor choice for a first tweet.  But to judge it without considering the instruction to “love your enemy” is to perhaps undershoot the analysis.

    • SamSam

      I, too, thought that the article was suggesting that he blessed the Ugandan politician in his tweet.

      It turns out that the two have nothing at all to do with each other.

  • Brainspore

    Like, in a “bless the sinners” kind of way or in a “you go, guys!” kind of way?

  • Over the River

    ♫ and all the sinners saints ♫

  • chgoliz

    Either the Pope is an idiot who has no idea that his every word and action is followed by millions of people around the globe, or he knowingly chose to give a “like” to a(nother) dangerous power-monger openly discussing plans for mass murder as a way of ensuring that they get a deluge of more “likes” from his followers (in both senses of the word) in the lead-up to that violence.

    What a perfect way to celebrate the Christmas spirit.

  • benher

    Who in 2012 cares what the Catholic Christing Church thinks about Anything?! 

    “Well, the the Roman Catholic’s position is this and that”
    “Vatican II establishes this and that” 
    “The Holy Moly Diaces says oogity boogity”

    Mumbo Jumbo Mumbo Jumbo These guys are from the Vatican and who gives a shit!

    • Antinous / Moderator

      About a billion people care. Does sticking your head in the sand work for any other issues?

      • benher

        Living in a country where less than one percent of the people give a shit about Abrahamic religions does help. 

        That aside, I do find it appalling that something-like-a-billion people are concerned about what the gentleman with the special hat says. 

  • http://redesigned.com redesigned

    I don’t believe in hell, but if i did there would be a special place set aside for this guy.  this tweet is the tip of the iceberg.  i don’t know how Catholics could stand for someone so evil to hold such a position, but i guess they don’t really get a say do they?

  • Alan Ball

    Aren’t those people the ones who need blessing? Blessing is commonly used to purge demons etc. You don’t bless the people who aren’t fucked up because well they are already blessed. 

  • niktemadur

    Less than 48 hours of tweeting bland and generic, Hallmark-style “pearls of wisdom” with no true insight whatsoever, then BOOM! goes the dynamite, nazi-youth Ratzinger doubles down, triples down, on stupidity. Really, is anybody surprised?
    How about blessing the robed child molesters, while condemning the uppity children?

  • http://profiles.google.com/steve.nordquist Steve Nordquist

    Video of the tweet; 20 mp4 streams, 3 in Ugandan English, 4 Ugandan English Markup, #KillNot confuses it further somehow. Uganda, y u overwrite book of dead with nulls? Hasa. Digu. Ebowai.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001873266408 Dean Shaw

    i always believed that religion = murder and the pope has proved my point he is nothing more then the devil himself

  • miasm

    I’m a Catholic but it’s more a matter of belonging to a community of giving and caring people than being conditioned by the papacy.
    Sure, scandal after inhuman scandal may poison the shallow mud puddle of faith instantiated in the holy see, but don’t confuse our deep and abiding belief in the strength of the spirit shown in the loving actions of our parishioners for the evil and sustained programs of vile subordination emanating from The Vatican.
    We have only the most perfunctory relationship with the fountain head of our faith.