Are We Using the Royal We?

So when the Pope says that “we Christians” need to repent, do you suppose he’s using the Royal “We” to keep the heat off of his own holy hinny?

The Pope said in his homily on Thursday, “I must say, we Christians, even in recent times, have often avoided the word 'repent', which seemed too tough. But now under attack from the world, which has been telling us about our sins ... we realize that it's necessary to repent, in other words, recognize what is wrong in our lives.”

And Ratzy’s right, “repent” is a tough word. It connotes the admission of guilt and responsibility for one’s actions, to be penitent and strive to change one’s ways. Wait . . . what? Apparently that’s not correct. Because the Pope says that repent means to “recognize what is wrong in our lives.”

Furthermore, the Pope isn’t as worried about contrition as he is about opening “ourselves to forgiveness” and “divine mercy.” But just in case forgiveness is slow in coming, he’s written himself (and presumably all of Christianity for which he speaks) an insurance policy. On the Vatican website, he claimed that there was a long-standing church policy to report abuse to civilian authorities to pursue according to the local laws. This is in direct contradiction with an earlier papal letter that was revealed last year that threatened excommunication to any priest that attempted to report child abuse to the police.

Presumably, it was Pope Benedict’s “repentance” that spurred this latest incidence of attempted revision of history. He finally recognized how guilty he was and decided to write himself out of responsibility for his voluminous crimes.

We are not amused.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36554197/ns/world_news-world_faith/