Richard Dawkins: I will arrest Pope Benedict XVI

RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope arrested during his state visit to Britain "for crimes against humanity".

Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

The pair believe they can exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, when he visited Britain in 1998.

The Pope was embroiled in new controversy this weekend over a letter he signed arguing that the "good of the universal church" should be considered against the defrocking of an American priest who committed sex offences against two boys. It was dated 1985, when he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases.

Benedict will be in Britain between September 16 and 19, visiting London, Glasgow and Coventry, where he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, the 19th-century theologian.

Dawkins and Hitchens believe the Pope would be unable to claim diplomatic immunity from arrest because, although his tour is categorised as a state visit, he is not the head of a state recognised by the United Nations.

They have commissioned the barrister Geoffrey Robertson and Mark Stephens, a solicitor, to present a justification for legal action.

The lawyers believe they can ask the Crown Prosecution Service to initiate criminal proceedings against the Pope, launch their own civil action against him or refer his case to the International Criminal Court
Article

http://richarddawkins.net/articles/5415

That's gonna be an awkward moment in history.

For the curious:

Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. Murder; extermination; torture; rape and political, racial, or religious persecution and other inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice. Isolated inhumane acts of this nature may constitute grave infringements of human rights, or depending on the circumstances, war crimes, but may fall short of falling into the category of crimes under discussion."

On another note... in the catholic faith is there any reason why a child is left alone with a Priest?:?

On another note... in the catholic faith is there any reason why a child is left alone with a Priest? weezyfb

1: why is the pope the one being charged? from my understanding, he simply chose not to take action against a sex offender on behalf of the church, how is that illegal? it's certainly a matter of questionable judgement, but it doesn't seem like a legal matter at all.

2: are these people also trying to go after the priest, or just the pope? this guy is obviously just using this situation as an excuse to try to destroy catholicism

3: why would the british government get involved? if the british government arrests the pope, the entire catholic population will despise them.. riots will ensue, bad stuff will happen

lol thats exactly what Id expect from a catholic priest, haharhianna89

Wow, that was uncalled for.

1: why is the pope the one being charged? from my understanding, he simply chose not to take action against a sex offender on behalf of the church, how is that illegal? it's certainly a matter of questionable judgement, but it doesn't seem like a legal matter at all.

2: are these people also trying to go after the priest, or just the pope? this guy is obviously just using this situation as an excuse to try to destroy catholicism

3: why would the british government get involved? if the british government arrests the pope, the entire catholic population will despise them.. riots will ensue, bad stuff will happen

Sword-Demon

1. He also covered up rapes of children...that is a crime

2. They are going after priests but the pope is still bound by laws...

3. Because Italy wont arrest him... by international laws, international criminals can be arrested in other countries... ie stated dictator or roman polanski...

none of this is official... yet,

They've been getting away with it for too long, I'm guessing he'll get away with it again.

why arrest the pope ? What did he do? They should arrest the priest , wow Richard Dawkins is really desperate to arrest him .

I bet this won't happen. Any takers?

why arrest the pope ? What did he do? They should arrest the priest , wow Richard Dawkins is really desperate to arrest him .

D-RS

I bet this won't happen. Any takers?

Palantas

[QUOTE="D-RS"]

why arrest the pope ? What did he do? They should arrest the priest , wow Richard Dawkins is really desperate to arrest him .

Danm_999

It's a PR stunt, not an actual plan.Danm_999

Screw that, I want a PR stunt too.

Attention OT: I am going to attempt to arrest the Pope in England. I'm going to do this by drinking Johnny Walker and watching UFC post-fight interviews.

Nothing like using child abuse to push your own agenda - classy :?

The pope is in charge of a criminal organisation and he is responsible for covering up criminal activity. I say: arrest him!

1: why is the pope the one being charged? from my understanding, he simply chose not to take action against a sex offender on behalf of the church, how is that illegal? it's certainly a matter of questionable judgement, but it doesn't seem like a legal matter at all.

2: are these people also trying to go after the priest, or just the pope? this guy is obviously just using this situation as an excuse to try to destroy catholicism

3: why would the british government get involved? if the british government arrests the pope, the entire catholic population will despise them.. riots will ensue, bad stuff will happen

Sword-Demon

he just wants to target the pope for religion, regardless of who the pope is. rowzzr

Just like some users here, I think...

"crimes against humanity" seems a bit exaggerated for covering up crimes. Let's be honest, Saddam Hussien commited crimes against humanity, for things that were far worse that covering up sex abuse. That being said, what he did was obviously wrong, morally and legally, and he shouldn't be exempt. I do also agree with an above poster who says the only reason Richard Dawkins really cares about this and wants to di this is it's his chance to go after religion.

Richard Dawkins probably a GSer.

[QUOTE="entropyecho"]

For the curious:

Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. Murder; extermination; torture; rape and political, racial, or religious persecution and other inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice. Isolated inhumane acts of this nature may constitute grave infringements of human rights, or depending on the circumstances, war crimes, but may fall short of falling into the category of crimes under discussion."

Sword-Demon

2: are these people also trying to go after the priest, or just the pope? this guy is obviously just using this situation as an excuse to try to destroy catholicism

Sword-Demon

The pope is tolerating it and covering it up. After they have caught the pope they'ld then try and arrest the priest, they won't let him walk free.

3: why would the british government get involved? if the british government arrests the pope, the entire catholic population will despise them.. riots will ensue, bad stuff will happen

Sword-Demon

You haven't seen the chrisitan population here, worse that will happen will be a few angry letters. Also as shown by the 750000 strong protest against going to war in Iraq, protests don't really have any effect.

I do not see this working out for Dawkins.ZombiefiedZomB

Although I usually find Dawkins somewhat of a blowhard, it's not more than logical that the leader of the biggest mob in Italy, namely the Vatican, is brought to justice.

Legally he doesn't have a case.....more posturing with his plan to preach his beliefs. He's more annoying than some denominations of religion are....LJS9502_basic

[QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"]Legally he doesn't have a case.....more posturing with his plan to preach his beliefs. He's more annoying than some denominations of religion are....Teenaged

Haha wutagun

[QUOTE="Teenaged"]

[QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"]Legally he doesn't have a case.....more posturing with his plan to preach his beliefs. He's more annoying than some denominations of religion are....LJS9502_basic

[QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"][QUOTE="Teenaged"]Nobody surpasses the Westboro B.C., imo.

Teenaged