14 February, 2013
Al Presdente della Repubblica Italiana Giorgio Napolitano
Presidenza della Repubblica
c/o Palazzo del Quirinale
00187 Roma
Italia
Al Presdente della Repubblica Italiana Giorgio Napolitano
Presidenza della Repubblica
c/o Palazzo del Quirinale
00187 Roma
Italia
Dear President Napolitano,
On behalf of our Tribunal and
people of conscience everywhere, and of the millions of victims of
church abuse, I am making an appeal to you regarding your upcoming
meeting with Joseph Ratzinger, who will retire soon as Pope Benedict,
the Pontiff of the Church of Rome.
Our understanding is that, in
the wake of pressure to have him resign his office because of his proven
complicity in concealing child trafficking in his church and other
crimes against humanity, Joseph Ratzinger is seeking the assistance of
the Italian government in securing protection and immunity from legal
prosecution.
I need not remind you, Mr.
President, that under international law and treaties that have been
ratified by Italy, you and your government are forbidden from granting
such protection to those like Jospeh Ratzinger who have aided and
abetted criminal actions, such as ordering Bishops and Cardinals in
America and elsewhere to protect known child rapists among their clergy.
Your obligation to the Vatican through the Lateran Treaties does not negate or nullify the requirements of these higher moral and international laws;
nor does it require that you give any protection or immunity to a
single individual like Joseph Ratzinger, especially after he has left
his papal office.
The need for you to abide by
international law and not be seen to collude with Joseph Ratzinger is
even more true when one considers the enormity of the crimes of which
the Vatican and its highest officials are clearly guilty, according to
considerable evidence gathered and documented by our Tribunal and other
groups, and acknowledged by many governments.
In
Canada alone, the Roman Catholic Church and its Vatican agents have
been found guilty of responsibility for genocide and the deaths of at
least 50,000 aboriginal child children in the Jesuit-initiated Indian
residential school system, that operated until 1996.
In Ireland, more than 10,000
women suffered and were exploited in the Catholic-run Magdalene
Laundries, where many of them died. Similar church-run institutions all
over the world have caused enormous mortality, disease and ruination for
millions of children. And yet the church has never been held accountable or prosecuted for these deaths and the theft of enormous wealth from entire nations.
With the recent initiative of
at least one European government and a host of lawyers to bring Joseph
Ratzinger and other church officials to trial for these crimes, we feel
it is incumbent on you neither to assist nor to be seen to assist or
condone the attempt by him to evade, obstruct or delay justice, lest you
open yourself to a charge of being an accessory to a crime.
On behalf of our Tribunal and
of many people who cannot speak, I call on you to stand on the law of
nations and humanity, and offer no support or protection to Joseph
Ratzinger or his accessories in their efforts to evade responsibility
for their proven crimes.
I look forward to your reply,
and to discussing this with you more when I visit your country in May
with a human rights delegation to investigate this matter more closely.
Sincerely,
Kevin D. Annett, M.A., M.Div.
Secretary, The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State
Central Office, Brussels
Central Office, Brussels
cc: world media
NOTE: the bold and italic emphasis in the above letter is mine.
Kind regards
Philton
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