Pope Benedict XVI Archives - Voice from the rooftop

Ohio bishops and death penalty

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Sometime back California bishops had opposed death penalty. Now Ohio bishops oppose death penalty.

Do Ohio bishops want Ohio to end up like Mexico? Why bishops ignore the dangers of not having death penalty? The bishops have eyes but they do not see. They have ears but do not hear. Death penalty is according to the tradition of the church. Christianity is not opposed to death penalty.

Pope Benedict XVI may be opposed to death penalty but sometimes popes have been wrong. One pope was declared a heretic in 681.

Catholic Church and sex scandals

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Sex scandals involving Catholic priests are making news with regularity. USA, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Holland, Germany, Austria and some other countries have reported sex scandals. Some scandals are cases of paedophilia. One case refers to a priest who was in Munich when the present pope Benedict XVI was then Joseph Ratzinger, archbishop of Munich.

Apostolic Administrators

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

A bishop being Apostolic Administrator of another diocese reminds me of Pre-Reformation days when many bishops had two or more dioceses under them. In some cases those appointed as bishops were not consecrated for years.

2006 The Year That Was

Posted on January 4, 2007 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

The year 2006 was witness to many events. Some of them were unprecedented. I mention some events.

Publishing of cartoons about Mohammed in a Danish newspaper caused riots in many countries. Newspapers in some countries reprinted the cartoons. No newspaper in India reprinted them. TV channels did not show them in full. Danish flags were burnt.

Letter to Pope Benedict XVI

Posted on April 20, 2006 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Your Holiness, This is my first communication to you. I hope you are in good health. I have a few suggestions to make. 1) The number of banns to be read before marriage is reduced to two. I wish it to be restored to three. The banns should be read…