If nothing else, Pope Benedict exceeds his predecessor in asinine statements. This infallibly hypocritical religious leader of the Roman Catholic Church, one who’s doctrine instructs worship of a ‘holy’ spirit and performs so-called exorcisms on a regular basis, is condemning the very same behavior in others. 
During his visit to Angola the following remarks were spoken.
“In today’s Angola,” the pope said in a homily at Mass, “Catholics should offer the message of Christ to the many who live in the fear of spirits, of evil powers by whom they feel threatened, disoriented, even reaching the point of condemning street children and even the most elderly because _ they say _ they are sorcerers.”
I suppose that ‘his holiness’ had a moment of senility, otherwise he surely would not have spoken so hypocritically. I do not think catholocism can easily forget the Spanish Inquisition which saw the torture, imprisonment and murder of multitudes by the church solely because they were deemed ‘witches’. This very same organization routinely has had knowledge of and sought to obstruct the prosecution of priests who have sexually molested children within the parishes. Most certainly the church, and the Pope must be aware of their own guilt regarding behaviors they are condemning in others… right?
Or, could this possibly be another instance of the institution and its leader asserting a ‘holier than thou’ (literally) attitude while failing to acknowledge their own guilt of the same ‘sins’. What astounds many people is the unfortunate fact that anyone heeds the words of the catholic pontificator, and that many actually worship the man. He is, from a personal standpoint, profoundly arrogant, bigoted, hateful and self righteous. Though, I suppose my opinion is of no consequence as I shrugged off the clutch of the church many years ago, I strongly feel that the church leadership should come to terms with their true identity and list hypocrisy as Catholicism’s main tenet of faith.
Look, I share your evident conviction that this Pope is a homophobic protector of pederasts whose sanctimony can be sickening, particularly when he raves against the use of condoms … on the theory that it’s better to risk death than to commit the sign of putting a thingy on your dingy.
HOWEVER.
He is correct to note that there is a problem with innocents being put to death by the ignorant on the grounds of “sorcery”. His remedy … conversion to his faith … is obviously, self-interested, but the problem is real.
A member of the Hitler Youth as pope…. Cute.
When you mention the Spanish Inquisition, I’m hoping that you haven’t had a senior moment of your own, as this event occurred 530 years ago. I myself did not like the choice of Pope after John Paul II’s death, and his defense of Holocaust denying Catholic preachers and his former membership in the Nazi Party doesn’t please me, but I really don’t care too much. I’m no big fan of the Catholic church, as I myself am a Lutheran, so I just ignore them.
Anyway, I prefer to worship God, not the Pope. Or Barack Obama, but that’s a different topic.
God Bless!
Henry
I would like to revise my figure, as the Inquisition did not end until about 300 years ago, with the highest educated approximation being slightly below 5000, but officially documented deaths being at 1080. I would also like to include some interesting other death tolls in history:
9/11: 2,998 dead, over 6,000 wounded. Over a period of 222 years, the death toll at this rate (per day) would have been 17,490,811,680.
AIDS: ~25 million
Battle of Iwo Jima (US): 6821 dead.
Mexican Drug Wars: 9,554 killed (December 2006 – March 2009)
Madrid Subway Bombings: 191 killed in 3 minutes. Over about 222, the death toll at this rate would have been 1,114,324,560 people dead.
My point is that if the numbers are worked, then about 22 people would have been killed per YEAR. This is a rather low number in comparison to the other numbers, eh?
God Bless!
Henry K.
God Bless Pope Benedict! May he grant us more of his wisdom in the years to come!
Some people who enjoy talking about the inquisition ought to show a little more knowledge of what they’re talking about.
First, the inquisition tribunals did not kill anybody ( the inquisition was a religious tribunal, not a civil one). The spanish courts did that in less than a hundred cases (far less than the witch hunts the protestants did). They did it at a time when the spanish crown wanted to keep control of what their subjects beleived as they were at war against the muslims. And the Vatican was in Italy (a different country) that was even invaded later by a Spanish king. So, not much sense in trying to connect inquisition with the church unless if, you, yourself are a catholic.