Mainly teenagers go there to get drunk and a few familys to picnic.
Also guys looking for teenagers who want beer and drugs in exchange for sex
Also someone I am not allowed to name!
Youd be surprised who's been up there.

above replace all the 'denom' and 'non-denoms' with 'demon' and 'non-demons' It makes for a more interesting read. Every story has got to have conflict, especially the long ones.

Huh?

Frist a gay man has no business being a priest.
How can he get up there and preach and tell people how to live if he does not practice what he preaches?
"It's ok I can have gay sex then go confess my sins."
Who have I heard says that?
Hmm?
Doing something wrong is still doing something wrong.
Your a hypocrite for doing it then confessing because you planned on doing it.

As for the child molesting ones.
I had one priest straight out tell me some boys want it.
Well I know that it is true some boys go after adult males for sex and stuff.
It is still wrong!

As a preist and a grown man they should know that they should never touch a boy.
If they really were living their faith they would try to find out what was wrong and why the boy was that way.
Just because a young boy might come on to the priest does not make it acceptable for the priest to touch the boy in any sexual way!

But some priests especially a few local ones seem to think they are above the law. They get off on the mental contol and the maniupulation.
I had one lady yell at me her priest was a good man he would never do anything like that. If only she knew the truth. But its a power thing.
They fool and manipulate and mind wash their church members. When your church is "rich" the Bishop will protect you to keep that cash flow steady.

Maybe priest watchers need to go to the "Dred" sometime or to Angel Falls.

which jumped out at me from the newspaper stand over at Seven Eleven seemed really stupid.

I'm not Roman Catholic (I'm Episcopalian,) but I was raised a variety of Protestant denoms, and have a ton of Catholic and Orthodox friends and family. (Episcopalian is also basically English Catholic (Church of England with very very similar structures, a LOT of Catholics wind up Episcopalian, -especially if they've Divorced and Re-Married.)

Fresno however is an overwhelmingly 'non-denom,' and 'protestant,' based town. The mega churches usually are some sort of evangelical (ish) usually majority white and Calvinist.

There ARE Roman Catholics and Orthodox (High) churches here,
---but the most part it's a lot of Baptist-ish
(and) anglo Charasmatic/Penticostal kind of a church base.
--This, actually is a total flip of what we have in the East, as the Catholic Churches are huge, they have schools, (etc.) and Catholicism is massive in many of the towns. (We have crossections of society: Italians, Poles, Ukranians, Germans, Irish, various Spanish Speaking, --that are mostly Roman Catholic.)

I'm finding that the 'other,' churches (here in Fresno, which includes Roman Catholicism, -that are more ethnically based,)
are seen as sort of '...hmm, what do THEY preach??? oh well nevermind...' by most Fresnans I talk to.

(The average church goer around here is kind of in their 'own little world,' of their church and that church's practices...
different religious practices are not really something I find most people interested in, nor caring about, and there really doesn't seem to be a whole lot of intermingling even between the mega-churches or non-denoms.)

It just struck me as a real disconnect, as (arguably,) the most revered leader of what is the largest and most powerful denomination in the world, is referred to in such a ridiculous fashion.

I mean, I don't know if I'd call it 'demeaning,' it's more just ignorant.

I was thinking of sending it to some friends (not from here,) but thought... nah, the town's got issues as it is, why make the place look worse...

It shows that the folks who picked the title really don't understand the meaning of what a Pope is to someone in a High Church (meaning in this case Roman Catholic,)
and would strike me as being disrespectful,
IF the average reader had much of a serious clue as to what Roman Catholicism and the Pope is,
but most folks don't,(it's kind of a distant concept, and truthfully, because there aren't that many Catholics here? I don't think most folks would be all up at arms.)

It's kind of like people in the area who tell jokes about Jews and the Polish,
---yet don't know Jews or Poles, have never met one, WILL never meet any, and have no clue as to why the punchline is biting, funny, insulting, (etc)
(I mean, I hear '..well, you know the Armenians are basically our Jews, they're just LIKE them,,,, (right?)
-to which I sort of ask '...um, which type of Jewish person are you referring to when you say that?'
and they're like:
'...you know JEWS.'

It's like hearing a baby using dirty words in another language...
I just shake my head and blow it off.

What is also kind of intersting?

A LOT of Mexicans I know are very very Catholic.

-IT shows a lot how the Bee sort of sees (if this were to be a real barometer,) the Spanish (Catholic,) population as not being a readership that they need to pay much attention to, nor show a whole lot of reverence to (Mexicans) leader of their church..
(I need to see how they handle this in the Mexican/Anglo paper that they put out, I've been getting the thing since I moved here.)
-Hopefully it's just a fluke, but it kind of points out who the money and power behind the newspaper is: (like, a bunch of white protestants???)

I don't know whether to chalk it up to the general disconnect in the town towards other people's cultures (Try walking into a supermarket and asking for the 'kosher,' section...
I got five stores worth of blank stares, until I finally said '...you know, the stuff that Jewish People eat.'
--to which I got
'...oh, Jew Food??! over there, by the Orientals stuff...'
(...great, we have a kosher section referred to as 'Jew Food,' (right up there with 'Fish Food,' or 'Baby Food.')
AND somebody who had no clue that 'Oriental' to an asian person is kind of insulting, as they will tell you 'an Oriental is a carpet, I'm Asian, (or their country of origion.)

So, no, Josh...
I don't think it's really going to make a whole lot of difference here, because I don't think most folks know enough about the level of the insult to really get it.

Am I saying the average Fresnan is stupid?
No.
I just think the average Bee Reader is oblivious to other cultures social and religious practices and figures,
---and has no desire to really be otherwise.
(Kind of like when I was back East, knew who Joe Paterno was, knew who Cheney was (Temple,) and couldn't care less about Pat Hill.)

PS:
---the Pope was VERY direct in his comments condemning the behaviors of the pedophiles, AND was saying that there was no place for anyone to be a Priest in the Holy Roman Catholic Church and do this, and that it would not be tolerated.

He said also that it was a deep shame for the church, and used very specific language about the issue
(read the NewYork Times article from today.)

--This Pope (by the way,) had the nickname 'the Rottweiller,' under JP2 because he was such an enforcer.
He's not taking this lightly at all, and is making very direct remarks about the whole thing, stating that he's going to be very intollerant of this sort of thing, has been, and will be.

---and is noticibly separating the whole 'pedophile priest,' issue from a priest being simply gay.

(Which I think helps in helping to discern and have a more healthy mindset on the issue.)

it's a good question why the pope, and the roman catholic church haven't done more to clean house in relation to pedophiles. today, the pope did speak a little about some of what they are doing to prevent further abuse from happen. but, still one could ask if it's enough, why they have taken so long, and how will the guarantee that it won't take place again.

but, using the word scandal doesn't deflect the blame onto the victims. at least not according to any standard definition.

Its not a scandal it's a disgrace and it is still going on.
He needs to clean out the churchs and church hospitals even the local ones. Using the term scandal is the churchs way of making the victims out to be the bad ones. A way of deflecting and shifting the shame and blame to the boys and away from the priests. Stop promoting the dirty priests and giving them more access to schools and boys. When is the next pajama day?

Maybe the Holy German Papi need some Bling Bling and red sleaveless jerseys to make him more appealing to tha gangsta crowd.
Face it those old drag robes and crowns are dated and tired.
They scream louder then the gurl in the City Hall closet running for Mayor.
Plus red jerseys with white trim will keep the brown shirt fatherland pure boys happy.
Get him some red fuzzy slippers with jeweled crests on them to wear to the liquor store when he is going to partake in the holy wine.
Your not cool or a real macho man with out your fuzzy slippers and jeweled crests to represent your homies in the Vatican
Let the guys at Pimp My Ride redo the popemoblie.
Throw on some color changing LED's and some spinners.
Add a bar with mini kegs and a fog machine.
Send him rolling bumping that Mass down the street.
Include a GPS navigators to find all the playgrounds, parks and malls when he is kickin it with Fresno's Holy Papis.
Maybe Miss Ruby Productions can help them with makeup tips.
I hear one Fresno Papi is quite good at coloring her hair to look younger at the River Park.

This post is written in jest.
The names have been left off to protect the guilty.
Any similarity to real the behavior of persons in Fresno is a coincidence.
I seriously doubt theyd admit thier behavior implied or otherwise in front of a judge.

Where's a Good Marla and Company Conspiracy when you need one?

The Real Orangebear

i'm not roman catholic. and, i'm not offended. however, i do find it lame and a tiny bit denigrating to the messages that the pope is coming to convey. the pope isn't trying to be a rock star, or a celebrity, which papalpaloooza reminds me of. if he's like the previous pope, he'll be pushing for peace, redemption, and faithfulness. i know he's already made comments, while on the plane ride over, about how much he regrets the sex scandals in the roman catholic church.

I'm Catholic and I found it rather dumb. I'm not sure if they were trying to be "hip" or whatever. I saw it too and just ignored it. Figured the title told me all I needed to know.