Pope Benedict to seek immunity and protection from Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on February 23
Breaking News: February 14, 2013
Pope Benedict to seek immunity and protection from Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on February 23 -
International Tribunal calls on Napolitano to "not collude in
criminality", and announces global campaign to occupy Vatican property
and launch human rights inquiry in Italy
Media Release from The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State - Brussels
Rome (9 am local time):
Pope Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger, has scheduled a meeting with Italian
President Giorgio Napolitano for Saturday, February 23 to discuss
securing protection and immunity from prosecution from the Italian
government, according to Italian media sources.
Ratzinger's
meeting follows upon the apparent receipt by the Vatican of a diplomatic
note from an undisclosed European government on February 4, stating its
intention to issue an arrest warrant for Ratzinger, who resigned from
his pontificate less than a week later.
In response to the
February 23 meeting, the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church
and State (ITCCS), through its field Secretary, Rev. Kevin Annett, has
written to President Napolitano, asking him to refrain from assisting
Ratzinger in evading justice.
The ITCCS letter states, in part,
"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 Joseph 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 Treaty 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."
A copy of the complete text of the ITCCS letter follows.
In response to the documented crimes of child torture, trafficking and
genocide linked to Pope Benedict and Vatican officials, the ITCCS will
be sponsoring a series of ongoing protests and occupations of Roman
Catholic churches and offices through its affiliates around the world
beginning in Easter week, March 24-31, 2013, and continuing
indefinitely.
These actions will accompany the legal efforts to
bring Joseph Ratzinger and other Vatican officials to trial for their
proven complicity in crimes against humanity and criminal conspiracy.
The Easter Reclamation Campaign will seize church property and assets
to prevent their use by child raping priests, who are protected under
Catholic canon law. Citizens have this right to defend their communities
and children when the authorities refuse to do so, under international
law.
Rev. Kevin Annett and an official delegation from the
ITCCS Central Office will also be convening a formal human rights
inquiry in Rome commencing the week of May 13, 2013, to consider further
charges against the Vatican and its new Pope for crimes against
humanity and obstruction of justice.
Rev. Annett and his
delegation will be working with organizations across Italy in this
investigation. In 2009 and 2010, he held rallies outside the Vatican and
met with media and human rights groups across Italy to charge the
Vatican with the death of more than 50,000 aboriginal children in
Canada.
For more information contact ITCCS and Rev. Annett at itccscentral@gmail.com and see www.itccs.org
Copy of letter to President Napolitano
An Open Letter and Appeal to Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Republic of Italy
from Rev. Kevin D. Annett, Secretary of the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State
14 February, 2013
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
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