Monday, January 23, 2006
THE PAPAL COPYRIGHT
or taking a lesson from the bishops.
Not long ago Catholic blogdom was shocked to discover that the Bishops (I think it was the bishops) were planning to enforce copyright laws on recent translations of the Bible.
Benedict has one-upped them. He is imposing copyrights on papal encyclicals of the last 50 years.
That's right, folks, you can't quote encyclicals any longer without worrying about copyrights, and this will apply to all of the encyclicals since Vatican II if The Australian has it correct.
The edict covers Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical, which is to be issued this week amid huge international interest. The edict is retroactive, covering not only the writings of the present pontiff -- as Pope and as cardinal -- but also those of his predecessors over the past 50 years. It therefore includes anything written by John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI and John XXIII.
The decision has been denounced for treating the Pope's words as "saleable merchandise" and endangering the church's mission to "spread the Christian message".
Of course it's very convenient for covering up the obvious flip-flop in doctrine. If no one can quote the encyclicals that contradict each other, the secret can be maintained and business as usual in Rome can proceed undiscovered. What more evidence does anyone need that something is rotten in Rome than to read this article in The Australian?
I guess this is just about the last straw for this Catholic!
===============================
Discussion of the gag order over at Open Book.
