Dawkins and Hitchens planto have Pope arrested
Lawyers say atheists Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins may have case against Benedict
Outspoken atheists Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have asked lawyers to look into the possibility of having Pope Benedict XVI arrested when he visits Britain in September.
Dawkins, the writer of a number of anti-religious books, including The God Delusion, and Hitchens, who wrote God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, have asked the human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson and the media lawyer Mark Stephens to build a case against the Pope, based around his alleged attempts to cover up child abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests.
Dawkins told the Sunday Times: "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."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Robertson and Stephens believe the Pope would not enjoy the immunity normally given to visiting heads of states - because the Vatican is not recognised as a state by the United Nations. "The Vatican is not actually a state in international law," Stephens told the Sunday Times. "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." The lawyers say the Pope could be charged with crimes against humanity; proceedings could be initiated by the Crown Prosecution Service or even the International Criminal Court.
Dawkins's and Hitchens's audacious new line of assault comes as the Pope faces new revelations that he was overly lenient to priests convicted of child abuse when he was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A letter written in Latin and signed by then Cardinal Ratzinger in 1985 opposed the defrocking of Stephen Kiesle, an American priest sentenced to three years' probation for lewd conduct with two boys in San Francisco in 1978.
The letter said the "good of the universal Church" needed to be considered in any defrocking. Kiesle was eventually defrocked in 1987 and went on to molest a young girl in 1995.
Meanwhile, the Rt Reverend Arthur Roche, the Bishop of Leeds, has been criticised for failing to take child abuse seriously as it emerged he failed to defrock a priest who abused boys at a school for the deaf in West Yorkshire.
Father Neil Gallanagh pleaded guilty in 2005 to indecently assaulting two boys at the St John's School for the Deaf in Boston Spa while chaplain there in the 1970s. He was handed a six-month suspended sentence, but Bishop Roche allowed Gallanagh, by then retired, to remain a priest.
The Pope could defuse the row ahead of his visit to Britain, which begins on September 16, by promising to meet the victims of paedophile priests. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests - an American group which is to open in the UK due to a surge in demand from British victims - and One in Four UK have called for such meetings.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi has intimated that the Pope would be amenable to meeting victims in Britain. He wrote in a press release: "In the context of this concern for victims, the Pope has written of his readiness to hold new meetings with them, thus sharing in the journey of the entire ecclesiastical community."
However, the meetings would almost certainly be held in secret and with carefully vetted individuals. The Pope has already met victims of child abuse under these conditions in Australia and the US - and has been criticised for doing so. Maeve Lewis, a representative of One in Four UK, told the Guardian: "In Australia and the USA, there was no opportunity for victims to set their own agenda. There was no chance to ask difficult questions."
It may be time for the Pope to start making concessions.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How social media is limiting political content
The Explainer Critics say Meta's 'extraordinary move' to have less politics in users' feeds could be 'actively muzzling civic action'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Unthinkable tragedy'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Passenger: 'pleasingly off-kilter' ITV crime drama
The Week Recommends There's 'plenty to be feared' in this British murder mystery set in a quiet northern town
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
How the biggest election year in history might play out
The Explainer Votes in world's biggest democracies, as well as its most 'despotic' and 'stressed' countries, face threats of violence and suppression
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Good democracies include their poorest citizens. The UK excludes them'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published