Richard Dawkins: I will arrest Pope Benedict XVI
I can dream, can’t I?
Richard Dawkins: I will arrest Pope Benedict XVI
RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope arrested during his state visit to Britain “for crimes against humanity”.
Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.
The pair believe they can exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, when he visited Britain in 1998.
The Pope was embroiled in new controversy this weekend over a letter he signed arguing that the “good of the universal church” should be considered against the defrocking of an American priest who committed sex offences against two boys. It was dated 1985, when he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases.
Benedict will be in Britain between September 16 and 19, visiting London, Glasgow and Coventry, where he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, the 19th-century theologian.
Dawkins and Hitchens believe the Pope would be unable to claim diplomatic immunity from arrest because, although his tour is categorised as a state visit, he is not the head of a state recognised by the United Nations.
They have commissioned the barrister Geoffrey Robertson and Mark Stephens, a solicitor, to present a justification for legal action.
The lawyers believe they can ask the Crown Prosecution Service to initiate criminal proceedings against the Pope, launch their own civil action against him or refer his case to the International Criminal Court.
Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, said: “This is a man whose first instinct when his priests are caught with their pants down is to cover up the scandal and damn the young victims to silence.”
Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great, said: “This man is not above or outside the law. The institutionalised concealment of child rape is a crime under any law and demands not private ceremonies of repentance or church-funded payoffs, but justice and punishment.
Last year pro-Palestinian activists persuaded a British judge to issue an arrest warrant for Tzipi Livni, the Israeli politician, for offences allegedly committed during the 2008-09 conflict in Gaza. The warrant was withdrawn after Livni cancelled her planned trip to the UK.
“There is every possibility of legal action against the Pope occurring,” said Stephens. “Geoffrey and I have both come to the view that the Vatican is not actually a state in international law. It is not recognised by the UN, it does not have borders that are policed and its relations are not of a full diplomatic nature.”
Sunday April 11th, 2010 @ 11:51am
If he actually feels threatened, I’m sure he’ll cancel the trip.
Sunday April 11th, 2010 @ 11:58am
He could, but then he would not be welcome in England…
Sunday April 11th, 2010 @ 6:09pm
Justice will be done. (Nature’s) God bless the fall of Christianity! (Don’t you just love irony?)
Monday April 12th, 2010 @ 1:14pm
There’s a one in a million chance a pope will ever be held accountable for anything but I certainly wish them the best of luck.
Monday April 12th, 2010 @ 2:11pm
I’ve read comments on other blogs from dimwits attributing this entirely to Dawkins and Hitchens scrambling for media attention…as if they need to try. It would hardly cross the faithful’s mind that perhaps, JUST PERHAPS, there are people in the world tired of the holy catholic church getting its way even if it means children have to suffer. Some people are willing to stand up to them, and use their notoriety and fame for GOOD uses…such as putting the defender of child molesters and the former head of the Inquisition behind bars where he deserves to be. Perhaps he’ll be given the same treatment as other child molesters…
Thursday April 15th, 2010 @ 6:24pm
My bad for not following through and verifying: this is false. Surprise, surprise, it’s a Rupert Murdoch paper that said this:
http://richarddawkins.net/articles/5415
Saturday April 24th, 2010 @ 3:55am
“crimes against humanity” – christians?! REALLY?!
i thought they only did crimes for good :/