Friday, March 26, 2010

Popegate 2010-2015

So the Pope is at last under direct pressure over his role in the long-running cover-up over paedophile priests, many of whom were quietly moved to other parishes, where they could, and did, carry on as before. It’s about time the Pope came under scrutiny, because he was in the thick of the cover-up for many years when he was the previous Pope’s Enforcer, or ‘Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’, formerly known as the Holy Office, the historical Inquisition.

As I wrote 2 years ago, “Ratzinger (as he then was) also had authority over other matters including clerical sexual misconduct. In 2001 he issued his notorious “Crimen Sollicitationis”, which affirmed and clarified the Church’s right to keep secret its own investigations into clerical sexual misconduct. In other words, he legitimised the cover-up that was going on. Under normal circumstances, he would have been prosecuted for inciting people to withhold from the police information pertaining to serious crimes.”

Look at the fancy Latin name they gave to it, Crimen Sollicitationis. You just know there’s a scam going on.

The current case involves a paedophile priest at a school for deaf boys in Wisconsin. Complaints were made to the Vatican office in 1996, and it seems there was no response.

There are no doubt dozens of other similar cases in which Ratzinger was involved, but the trouble is that he was at the very top, and people at the top rarely take the rap. You just have to look at the Iraq torture cases involving the US army. It was the lowly soldiers who were charged and convicted, not the senior officers who presided over the culture.

So I have no doubt that Ratzinger was involved in the paedophile cover-up in a big way for many years. But I doubt that he will take the rap for it, at least in the near future. Even if the secular authorities went for him – and the Church seems to remain above the law in many ways - I think it would be very hard to prove anything. The most we can hope for now is a damaged reputation.


Click to Enlarge

What we see in his current transits is the tail end of a Uranus square to his MC and Mars, and Saturn conjunct his Moon, which rules his 5th House of Children. So his position could be under a certain amount of pressure and destabilising influence and attack for the rest of the year, but that will probably be that. For now.

His natal Moon in Libra is also square to natal Pluto. So it could get very heavy indeed a few years down the line when Pluto and Uranus begin to hard-aspect his natal Pluto and Moon. Pluto will also be culminating his long passage through Ratzinger’s 10th House of career and reputation. (He became Pope just as Pluto was entering his 10th House.)

The paedophile issue will run and run, because there is too much pain involved for it not to. It has been going on for years now and only seems to get bigger. And it is only just starting in Europe.

So for now and for the next year or two the Pope is looking like he’ll remain untouched, albeit under a certain amount of pressure. But the nature of the issue put together with the astrology suggests to me that the noose will gradually be tightening.

It looks to me a bit like Watergate, but set over a longer time period. For the next couple of years, the Pope will be able to blame others. But in 3-5 years time, with Pluto and Uranus starting to make some serious aspects to his natal Moon-Pluto, we may see a process leading to the Pope's resignation, the first to do so since 1415.

I can back this up with another major transit, Neptune square natal Saturn. The Pope’s Saturn is in Sag in the 9th House, a classic position for religious authority (the Dalai Llama also has this placement; the previous Pope had Pluto in the 9th). This authority could begin to diminish in 2011 when Neptune enters the sign square to Sag, Pisces, a process that could deepen until the exact square of 2014. Saturn is also our physical structure, and being in his early 80s, this transit could reflect an increasing frailty over the next 4 years.


Click to Enlarge

The Pope’s Solar Return for 2014-15, relocated to Rome, has Pluto conjunct MC opposite Jupiter conjunct IC, forming a Grand Cross with Mars and Uranus. There is also an eclipse along the ASC-DESC axis. This will surely be the year when he ceases to be Pope, and Pluto’s involvement in both the Solar Return and by transit suggests to me it will not simply be the gentle passing away of a much-loved pontiff.

The issue of men in religious positions, like any position of power, getting up to sexual shenanigans is an old story. Normally it is adult female pupils that the male teachers are sleeping with, and different cultures have different attitudes to this. Amongst Native Americans, for example, it is assumed that the teacher will be sleeping with his female pupil. In our culture it has recently become an absolute no-no, which I think has a lot to do with the influence of puritanical feminism and its fear of male sexuality. Timothy Leary was once asked if he'd slept with any of his students, and after pausing for a moment, replied that he couldn't think of any he hadn't slept with. The French sculptor Rodin slept with most of his young female models, to the extent that he felt obliged to let them down gently if he didn't feel so inclined. In rural Ireland, the Catholic priest usually had a female housekeeper, and it was understood that she also shared his bed. My view tends to be that if 2 adults decide to sleep together, it's not really my business, and if one of them happens to be a teacher and the other a pupil, well it can be messy, but so are a lot of relationships, and people often learn from that.

The above, though, is a bit beside the point when considering the Catholic Church, which has managed to twist and pervert to an unprecedented degree the sexual desires not just of its priesthood but also its lay congregation. A lot of the trouble seems to lie in the training of the priests, who from a young age are hidden away in boys-only seminaries and taught that sex is dirty. Consequently they suffer from arrested development, and their repressed sexuality finds unhealthy outlets. I don't think celibacy (which was originally introduced for economic reasons) is so much the problem, because hypocrisy is always an honourable way out.

Personally, though, I think they should do away with priestly celibacy - they can leave that for the monks and nuns - and not let a priest near a congregation unless he is married. They also need to look at the training that causes the problem in the first place, but the trouble is that you are up against religion, which often has a doctrinal, rather than pragmatic attitude to its practices and trainings. So far, the Church has shown no sign of common sense on this one.

I wonder also if priestly paedophilia may be a power issue. These priests are bummed up as spiritual and superior, but in reality they have been neutered, they are men in skirts, they are disempowered. Apart from the odd cowering parishioner, perhaps the only time these ghosts of men feel they have any real power is when they force themselves on children.

I watched the film 'Doubt' recently. It is set in a Roman Catholic School in the US, and involves a tussle between a male priest who is a teacher, and a nun who suspects him of being a paedophile. You never quite find out if he is, but it is also clear that he has enormously helped the boy with whom he is also suspected of sexual activity. The film gives the issue the moral complexity that you find in real life, rather than the simplistic black-and-white demonisation that you find in the tabloids.


Site Meter

19 comments:

Jamie Funk said...

we seem to be interested in the same topics. this is very informative and it's great you have researched this Pope previously, still have to read the precious one. the jupiter-uranus conjunction will be on his mercury so that may be a critical time for him. i want to write about it later and will definitely link to this article.

Barry Goddard said...

The Pope's got a natal Mercury-Uranus conjunction, which contributes to his well-known intellectual ability. It would help him, for example, construct theological arguments that get him out of a tight corner!

So transiting Uranus conjoining his Mercury would be easier for him than for some, because it's familiar territory. It will be interesting to see the wriggles he comes up with.

Again, Jupiter, which will also be conjoining his Mercury, is co-ruler of Pisces, the sign of his Mercury, so he might be able to move things his way for a while.

But as you say, it could be quite critical, because Mercury rules two of his Angles.

And also he has his Uranus Return, which is probably a less dramatic version of the Uranus opposition, so we could see his Papacy take a different course over the next year or so, particualrly with Uranus ruling the 11th House of, in his case, congregations.

Marina Caruso said...

What a great Blog post, so good to know a bit more of the Popes background as I have only just started looking into him. I have a specific interest in the Liliths so I drew up Benedict's chart with them and found he has a tight Priapus Moon opposition, in my blog I wrote:
"The coming Full Moon may bring things to a head for Pope Benedict XVI. Like Americas chart his Moon (at 14 degs Libra) is in tight hard aspect to Priapus, this time in opposition. The Full Moon falls within 6 degs of this axis. Not as tight as I’d like, but in the light of this news I think this is significant. Priapus representing the anti-Lilith, the epitome of church hypocrisy and society’s double standards."
What I didn't notice is that they are both T squared PLUTO, under a degree the whole set up.
That means his upcoming Pluto half return will form a grand CROSS in his chart between Tr Pluto and his natal Moon, Priapus and Pluto.
Pluto reaches 13 Capricorn (opposing natal Pluto) in March 2014. Uranus and Pluto will be in EXACT square in April 2014. The last of the conjunctions starting in 2011. I saw this and thought he is most likely to die around then or the Church will die. Your adding the Solar return to it certainly backs this up. If he doesnt die then yes, resignation seems very likely. I do like the symbolism of all these grand crosses. Crucifixion for the Catholic Church? He he..

Sally Roberts said...

Entirely agree that the celibacy requirement for priests should be scrapped. The present situation is unhealthy in the extreme and most unnatural.
Rabbis are always expected to be married and have families and this produces a far healthier situation.

Tracy said...

I don't know if you saw Christopher Hitchens on Bill Maher but he had some choice comments about Pope Benedict.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/27/christopher-hitchens-cath_n_515657.html

Jamie Funk said...

Uranus on his Mercury is a bonus for his intellect, though the square from Mars causes a problem. The Regensburg lecture was 10 days before a solar eclipse opposite his Mercury, and on the day of the lecture, transiting Mercury was on this eclipse degree. An even bigger problem than the square from Mars is the fixed star Scheat conjunct his Mercury by just 05'. It gives "trouble through writings". http://www.constellationsofwords.com/stars/Scheat.html

Barry Goddard said...

The day of that lecture was 12 Sept 2006, the day after 9/11, what a day to attack Muslims! Pluto was stationing Direct at 24 Sag, just starting a 6-month run-in that would station square to his Mercury and stop just short of an opposition to his Mars.

2 years later, in his Christmas message, he said that saving the world from homosexuals and transsexuals was as important as the environmental issue. (http://astrotabletalk.blogspot.com/2008/12/popes-christmas-message.html)

So it's as if Pluto changed the nature of his Mercury-Mars, emboldened him as Pope to take pot-shots at the Church's traditional enemies.

Kenna J said...

Gosh, Dharmaruci, your comments about the sexual obligations of female underlings are not very Aquarian, except in their coldness and detachment! You mention some relationships which are chosen, such as Timothy Leary's students, but housemaids in rural Ireland may have no other options. When someone has no choice about having sex or not, or when she has to choose between sex and her basic survival, it's called rape. If you don't understand why, then you obviously have never been in such a position.

I'm deeply glad that we are leaving behind the sex roles of the Piscean age. It is to everyone's benefit when women are empowered to think of their bodies as their own.

Barry Goddard said...

Cold and detached? Let's not get personal, it's bad argument.

Housekeepers in rural Ireland being in a position of ongoing rape? You should then logically say that about all marriages where there is an economic necessity to stay together. I think you are imposing some very recent ideology onto a situation we don't know very much about, and being very unfair to the husbands/priests.

Some of the men (and women) were no doubt bad eggs, just like nowadays, but to accuse all the men in such a situation of being rapists just because there is a tie of economic survival...?

handlessme said...

Loved Sinead O'Connor brave take in this on Newsnight; though she was battling with the enemy with very little support. I admire her stand on it enormously...

segurelha said...

This is very sad. It's Pluto exposing the dark side of religion. This is also very interesting. Last time Pluto was in Capricorn, Luther began the Protestant movement. The power of the Church will erode further.

Kenna J said...

Yes, what you said was cold and detached. It lacked any empathy, kindness, or respect for another's disenfranchisement. You can take that personally if you want to. If you are something other than cold and detached about this issue, then, please, say something warm and empathetic.

I do say the same about marriages where there is an economic necessity to stay together. Marriage doesn't require a person to have sex against her desire! Not these days. You are still someone's wife even if you decline to have sex with him. There are still a few backward states in the USA which say husbands have the right to rape their wives, but not many.

By your logic, all the children born between American slaves and their white owners weren't the product of rape, either. Can you be serious?

[What century do you live in over there in England, anyway?]

Marina said...

As an Astrologer and feminist I find nothing offensive in this post at all. I found it illuminating,straight-talking, fair and balanced. The tone of the whole Blog seems to be coming from a good place I think.
Nobody can assume rape just because the man was in a position of power, economic or otherwise. I think that IS being unfair to men and gives feminism a bad name. Nothing is black & white in these situations. The world is full of uncomfortable truths, why sugar coat them?
I'm British;)

Kenna J said...

An underling is simply not in a position to make a free-willed consent to sexual relations, so the responsibility lies completely with the superior. Saying it's okay for an employer to have sex with an employee is like saying it's okay for a caregiver to have sex with a severely mentally retarded patient. The mentally retarded person may have really, really wanted the sex, but the caregiver still did the wrong thing. The same goes for older children having sex with significantly younger children or adults having sex with children. If sex isn't consensual, it's rape. If one party doesn't have the status to decline, then it's not consensual. That's how it works in the USA, anyway. I'm blown away that this information isn't common knowledge where you are.

Marina said...

And I'm "blown away"you can say a secretary having an affair with her boss is the same as a caregiver having sex with their mentally handicapped patient!!??
Lord almighty...
I'd be more worried about the real villains,the peadophile priests out there instead of yacking at some Astrologer about his "tone" addressing womens issues. Atleast he is raising awareness about an important issue and inspiring discussion.

Kenna J said...

It is the same. The party with the power has to decline.

Think of it this way: There may have been boys who actually enjoyed the sexual activities with their priests and even looked forward to the experiences. They simply were not in a position to consent, though. Making space for the few priest-underling sexual relationships which could be positive is insane, as this would also make space for the thousands of others which do terrible damage. There is no way to determine in advance which a power-imbalanced sexual relationship will turn out to be. The party with the power has to refrain.

I AM more worried about the pedophile priests. I'm speaking up because I think it is a casual lack of awareness, as Dharmaruci is showing on this issue, that allows priests like that to be deluded into thinking that what they are doing is okay. I don't think all pedophilic priests are sociopathic monsters; I think many of them are seeking holiness and love and just don't know any better about power relationships. I feel surprised to learn that there are intelligent, educated, non-pedophiles who also don't know better.

On an astrological note, I've noticed that people born during the 17-year period when Neptune was in Scorpio tend to think there's something thrilling about mixing power imbalances with sexuality.

Kenna J said...

Wow, Dharmaruci,

I'm really surprised that you didn't publish my comment. I thought it was intelligent, respectful, and relevant.

I seem to be getting censored a lot lately. Pluto is stationing square to my natal Pluto, but this aspect doesn't quite say "censorship" to my mind. Saturn is in opening square to my natal Saturn, as well, but I would expect this to make me retreat from others rather than the other way around. ?

Thanks for your blog. It adds to my life.

Kenna J

Alan said...

"with Pluto and Uranus starting to make some serious aspects to his natal Moon-Pluto, we may see a process leading to the Pope's resignation, the first to do so since 1415."


Great prescience! But you gave the Pope more time than he had ...

Anonymous said...

I often lie awake at night, wondering whether my present lecturer/guru will see fit to grace my spirit and body with the gift of his Manhood. Sadly, I am often let down, at 54, as unworthy due to my lack of 'spiritual awareness'. The 19 and 20 year old females in our group seem to be far more spiritually attuned to his God-Given powers, he says, because they are more innocent. I am like a plum, withered on the vine, he says. I think he is like a plum too, though. Cannot we be plums together? He lets me down gently, but I love him.


Tinkerbell,
Dingley Dell
Somewhere in the UK