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ICC Backers Say Papal Teaching is a
War Crime
by Christopher A. Ferrara
 As you read this
column Father Nicholas Gruner faces the astounding threat of excommunication,
which the Vatican calls “definitive provisions which would be painful for
all concerned.” According to a letter dated February 16, 2001 from
Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos of the Congregation for the Clergy, one of the
grounds for imposing ultimate canonical sanctions on Father Gruner—while
innumerable heretical and homosexual clerics remain members of the
Church—is that The Fatima Crusader magazine has been strongly
critical of the policies of the Vatican Secretariat of State. Imagine that! It
would seem that the one unpardonable offense in the Church today is not heresy
or the molestation of altar boys, but criticism of the prudential policies of
Cardinal Sodano and the Vatican bureaucracy.
The Vatican
Secretariat of State was instrumental in the successful 1998 meeting in Rome to
adopt the statutes of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is now
racing toward ratification by the requisite 64 nations. Experts predict the ICC
will be operating within two years. Once this super-court is up and running, it
will be able to pluck citizens from any nation in the world and put them on
trial for as-yet-unspecified “crimes against humanity.” Cardinal
Sodano and Archbishop Martino, the Vatican’s observer at the United
Nations, have praised the ICC as a great step forward for human rights. But
Father Gruner’s apostolate, along with many conservative political
organizations in the secular realm, have been warning that the ICC is a huge
mistake which threatens to annihilate the already eroding sovereignty of
nations. Where the Church is concerned, Catholic clerics and even the Pope
himself could become the targets of ICC investigation for “hate
crimes” or crimes against humanity.
Sound
far-fetched? Consider that one of the first proposals for the ICC regulations
was a provision which would compel priests to break the seal of the
confessional in the course of ICC investigations. That has been shot
down—for now. But it is only the beginning.
A recent Zenit
news service report cites an article entitled “Stop the ICC” by
Catholic journalist Mary Jo Anderson, published in Crisis magazine.
Anderson notes that the European Network of the International Planned
Parenthood Federation has issued an open letter to Pope John Paul II which
impudently informs His Holiness that “... we are deeply concerned that you
do not seem to recognize that the opinions and actions of the Holy See ... are
seen by many as ... war ... that contributes to ... suffering and
deaths. ...”. Anderson asks the obvious question: “Could the Holy
Father conceivably be held responsible by the ICC (once it is fully ratified)
for millions of AIDS deaths because the Church prohibits the use of
condoms?” You bet he could. The ICC proposal to compel violation of the
seal of the confessional should tell us that.
In short, the
Vatican Secretary of State deserves to be criticized and opposed
for its insane support of the ICC. How could Cardinal Sodano not realize
that the ICC will be nothing but an international version of the same godless
judicial systems which have legalized the murder of children in the womb in
every nation and are bringing the whole world to ruin?
When will the
Vatican bureaucracy stop dabbling in the pursuit of such follies as
international criminal courts controlled by atheists, and return to matters in
which the Church has competence—such as preaching the Social Kingship of
Christ in a Christian civilization? Father Gruner does not hesitate to ask such
questions. So should we all.
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