A series of Articles:
First:
Pope Benedict resigned to avoid arrest, seizure of church wealth by Easter
Posted on February 13, 2013 by itccs
Diplomatic Note was issued to Vatican just prior to his resignation
New Pope and Catholic clergy face indictment and arrest as "Easter Reclamation" plan continues
A Global Media Release and Statement from The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State
Brussels:
The historically unprecedented resignation of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope this week was compelled by an upcoming action by a European government to issue an arrest warrant against Ratzinger and a public lien against Vatican property and assets by Easter.
The ITCCS Central Office in Brussels is compelled by Pope Benedict's sudden abdication to disclose the following details:
1. On Friday, February 1, 2013, on the basis of evidence supplied by our affiliated Common Law Court of Justice (itccs.org), our Office concluded an agreement with representatives of a European nation and its courts to secure an arrest warrant against Joseph Ratzinger, aka Pope Benedict, for crimes against humanity and ordering a criminal conspiracy.
2. This arrest warrant was to be delivered to the office of the "Holy See" in Rome on Friday, February 15, 2013. It allowed the nation in question to detain Ratzinger as a suspect in a crime if he entered its sovereign territory.
3. A diplomatic note was issued by the said nation's government to the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, on Monday, February 4, 2013, informing Bertone of the impending arrest warrant and inviting his office to comply. No reply to this note was received from Cardinal Bertone or his office; but six days later, Pope Benedict resigned.
4. The agreement between our Tribunal and the said nation included a second provision to issue a commercial lien through that nation's courts against the property and wealth of the Roman Catholic church commencing on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013. This lien was to be accompanied by a public and global "Easter Reclamation Campaign" whereby Catholic church property was to be occupied and claimed by citizens as public assets forfeited under international law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
5. It is the decision of our Tribunal and the said nation's government to proceed with the arrest of Joseph Ratzinger upon his vacating the office of the Roman Pontiff on a charge of crimes against humanity and criminal conspiracy.
6. It is our further decision to proceed as well with the indictment and arrest of Joseph Ratzinger's successor as Pope on the same charges; and to enforce the commercial lien and "Easter Reclamation Campaign" against the Roman Catholic church, as planned.
In closing, our Tribunal acknowledges that Pope Benedict's complicity in criminal activities of the Vatican Bank (IOR) was compelling his eventual dismissal by the highest officials of the Vatican. But according to our sources, Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone forced Joseph Ratzinger's resignation immediately, and in direct response to the diplomatic note concerning the arrest warrant that was issued to him by the said nation's government on February 4, 2013.
We call upon all citizens and governments to assist our efforts to legally and directly disestablish the Vatican, Inc. and arrest its chief officers and clergy who are complicit in crimes against humanity and the ongoing criminal conspiracy to aid and protect child torture and trafficking.
Further bulletins on the events of the Easter Reclamation Campaign will be issued by our Office this week.
Second:
VATICAN CITY — Saying he would soon be “hidden to the world,” Pope Benedict XVI took his leave of parish priests and clergy members of the Diocese of Rome on Thursday as he offered personal, and incisive, recollections of the Second Vatican Council, the gathering of bishops 50 years ago that set the Roman Catholic Church’s course for the future.
Benedict, who announced his resignation on Monday in a move that stunned the Roman Catholic world, also indicated that he would not hold a public role once his resignation became official on Feb. 28. Benedict is the first pope to step down in nearly 600 years.
“Though I am now retiring to a life of prayer, I will always be close to all of you, and I am sure all of you will be close to me, even though I remain hidden to the world,” Benedict, 85, and increasingly frail, told the assembly of hundreds of priests, who had greeted him with a long standing ovation and some tears.
Priests in attendance said they felt they had witnessed a powerful moment in church history, one that also humanized a pope who had often seemed remote. “It moved me to see the pope smile,” said Don Mario Filippa, a priest in Rome. “He has found peace within himself.”
Father Martin Astudillo, 37, an Argentine priest who is studying in Rome, said, “It was a part of history.” He added: “This is a man of God who at the end of his public role transmits his vision of the church and relationship with the church. We saw in a few words a real synthesis of his vision of the church and what he expects from whomever takes over.”
During the reflection — or “chat” in his words — on the Second Vatican Council, Benedict recalled the “incredible” expectations of the bishops going into the gathering.
“We were full of hope, enthusiasm and also of good will,” he said.
But while the council made landmark decisions that would propel the church into the future, much got lost in the news media’s interpretation of what transpired, Benedict said, which led to the “calamities” that have marred recent church history.
The news outlets reduced the proceedings “into a political power struggle between different currents of the church,” Benedict said, and each chose a side that suited its individual vision of the world.
These messages, not that of the council, entered into the public sphere, and that led in the years ahead to “so many calamities, so many problems, seminaries closed, convents that closed, the liturgy trivialized,” the pope said.
Benedict spoke of how the Second Vatican Council had explored ideas of “continuity” between the Old and New Testaments, and of the relationship between the Catholic and Jewish faiths, a thorny issue during his tenure.
“Even if it’s clear that the church isn’t responsible for the Shoah, it’s for the most part Christians who did this crime,” the German-born Benedict said of the Holocaust, adding that this called for a need to “deepen and renovate the Christian conscience,” even if it is true that “real believers only fought against” Nazi barbarism.
At a news briefing on Thursday, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, confirmed a report in the Turin newspaper La Stampa that the pope had accidentally hit his head during a trip to Mexico last March. The press corps traveling with Benedict was not informed of the accident.
The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano has reported that the pope had decided to retire after returning from that trip. But Father Lombardi rejected La Stampa’s suggestion that the episode might have prompted the decision.
La Stampa reported that Benedict had gotten up in the middle of the night but could not find the light switch in the unfamiliar environment, and had accidentally hit his head on a sink in the bathroom.
An unidentified prelate on the same trip said the pope had come down to breakfast the next morning with blood in his hair, the newspaper said. There was also blood on the pillow, “and a few drops on the carpet,” La Stampa quoted the prelate as saying. “But it was not a deep cut, nor was it worrisome,” and it was covered by the pope’s thick hair, the prelate added. The pope did not complain during the day’s events.
Later that night, the prelate said, he heard that the pope’s doctor had reacted by expressing worries about so much travel, and that Benedict had responded that he too had concerns about traveling.
Father Lombardi said: “I don’t deny that this episode happened, but it didn’t impact on the rest of his trip, nor on his decision to resign. That isn’t linked to one single episode.”
Since Benedict announced the decision, saying he felt he did not have the strength to continue in his ministry, there has been much closer public scrutiny of his health.
On Tuesday, the Vatican confirmed for the first time that the pope had had a pacemaker since his time as a cardinal and had its batteries changed three months ago.
Once retired, Benedict will live in a convent in Vatican City, and will be tended to by the nuns who look after him now. Father Lombardi said Benedict’s longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who was also named prefect of the papal household two months ago, would continue to work for him.
Father Lombardi said he saw no conflict of interest if Archbishop Gänswein served the current pope and his successor.
The prefect is responsible for logistical duties, and “in this sense it is not a profound problem, I think,” Father Lombardi said.
Third-
Pope accused of crimes against humanity
The Pope and top Vatican cardinals have been accused of possible crimes against humanity for sheltering guilty Catholic priests, in formal complaints to the International Criminal Court.
Pope accused of crimes against humanity
Pope Benedict XVI Photo: AFP/GETTY
By Our Foreign Staff
2:51PM BST 13 Sep 2011
The Centre for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based non-profit legal group, requested an ICC inquiry on behalf of the Survivors Network, arguing that the global church has maintained a "long-standing and pervasive system of sexual violence" despite promises to swiftly oust predators.
The Vatican said it had no immediate comment on the complaint.
The complaint names Pope Benedict XVI, partly in his former role as leader of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which in 2001 explicitly gained responsibility for overseeing abuse cases; Cardinal William Levada, who now leads that office; Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state under Pope John Paul II; and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who now holds that post.
Lawyers for the victims say rape, sexual violence and torture are considered a crime against humanity as described in the international treaty that spells out the court's mandate. The complaint also accuses Vatican officials of creating policies that perpetuated the damage, constituting an attack against a civilian population.
Barbara Blaine, president of the US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by priests, said going to the court was a last resort.
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