A place to discuss and to keep track of the court progress of the RCC, other denominations, and government crimes against Humanity

Here's Kevin's comments regarding Pope Benedict resignation which was shortly after being issue an arrest warrant against Ratzinger and a public lien against Vatican property and assets by Easter.

Pope Benedict to seek immunity and protection from Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on February 23Posted on February 14, 2013 by itccs

http://itccs.org/2013/02/14/pope-benedic...on-february-23/

International Tribunal calls on Napolitano to “not collude in criminality”, and announces global campaign to occupy Vatican property and launch human rights inquiry in Italy
Rome (9 am local time):

Pope Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger, has scheduled a meeting with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano for Saturday, February 23 to discuss securing protection and immunity from prosecution from the Italian government, according to Italian media sources.

Ratzinger’s meeting follows upon the apparent receipt by the Vatican of a diplomatic note from an undisclosed European government on February 4, stating its intention to issue an arrest warrant for Ratzinger, who resigned from his pontificate less than a week later.

In response to the February 23 meeting, the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS), through its field Secretary, Rev. Kevin Annett, has written to President Napolitano, asking him to refrain from assisting Ratzinger in evading justice.

The ITCCS letter states, in part,

“I need not remind you, Mr. President, that under international law and treaties that have been ratified by Italy, you and your government are forbidden from granting such protection to those like Joseph Ratzinger who have aided and abetted criminal actions, such as ordering Bishops and Cardinals in America and elsewhere to protect known child rapists among their clergy.

“Your obligation to the Vatican through the Lateran Treaty does not negate or nullify the requirements of these higher moral and international laws; nor does it require that you give any protection or immunity to a single individual like Joseph Ratzinger, especially after he has left his papal office.”

A copy of the complete text of the ITCCS letter follows.

In response to the documented crimes of child torture, trafficking and genocide linked to Pope Benedict and Vatican officials, the ITCCS will be sponsoring a series of ongoing protests and occupations of Roman Catholic churches and offices through its affiliates around the world beginning in Easter week, March 24-31, 2013, and continuing indefinitely.

These actions will accompany the legal efforts to bring Joseph Ratzinger and other Vatican officials to trial for their proven complicity in crimes against humanity and criminal conspiracy.

The Easter Reclamation Campaign will seize church property and assets to prevent their use by child raping priests, who are protected under Catholic canon law. Citizens have this right to defend their communities and children when the authorities refuse to do so, under international law.

Rev. Kevin Annett and an official delegation from the ITCCS Central Office will also be convening a formal human rights inquiry in Rome commencing the week of May 13, 2013, to consider further charges against the Vatican and its new Pope for crimes against humanity and obstruction of justice.

Rev. Annett and his delegation will be working with organizations across Italy in this investigation. In 2009 and 2010, he held rallies outside the Vatican and met with media and human rights groups across Italy to charge the Vatican with the death of more than 50,000 aboriginal children in Canada.

——————-

An Open Letter and Appeal to Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Republic of Italy from Rev. Kevin D. Annett, Secretary of the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State
14 February, 2013
Al Presdente della Repubblica Italiana Giorgio Napolitano
Presidenza della Repubblica
c/o Palazzo del Quirinale
00187 Roma
Italia
Dear President Napolitano,

On behalf of our Tribunal and people of conscience everywhere, and of the millions of victims of church abuse, I am making an appeal to you regarding your upcoming meeting with Joseph Ratzinger, who will retire soon as Pope Benedict, the Pontiff of the Church of Rome.

Our understanding is that, in the wake of pressure to have him resign his office because of his proven complicity in concealing child trafficking in his church and other crimes against humanity, Joseph Ratzinger is seeking the assistance of the Italian government in securing protection and immunity from legal prosecution.

I need not remind you, Mr. President, that under international law and treaties that have been ratified by Italy, you and your government are forbidden from granting such protection to those like Jospeh Ratzinger who have aided and abetted criminal actions, such as ordering Bishops and Cardinals in America and elsewhere to protect known child rapists among their clergy.

Your obligation to the Vatican through the Lateran Treaties does not negate or nullify the requirements of these higher moral and international laws; nor does it require that you give any protection or immunity to a single individual like Joseph Ratzinger, especially after he has left his papal office.

The need for you to abide by international law and not be seen to collude with Joseph Ratzinger is even more true when one considers the enormity of the crimes of which the Vatican and its highest officials are clearly guilty, according to considerable evidence gathered and documented by our Tribunal and other groups, and acknowledged by many governments.

In Canada alone, the Roman Catholic Church and its Vatican agents have been found guilty of responsibility for genocide and the deaths of at least 50,000 aboriginal child children in the Jesuit-initiated Indian residential school system, that operated until 1996.

In Ireland, more than 10,000 women suffered and were exploited in the Catholic-run Magdalene Laundries, where many of them died. Similar church-run institutions all over the world have caused enormous mortality, disease and ruination for millions of children. And yet the church has never been held accountable or prosecuted for these deaths and the theft of enormous wealth from entire nations.

With the recent initiative of at least one European government and a host of lawyers to bring Joseph Ratzinger and other church officials to trial for these crimes, we feel it is incumbent on you neither to assist nor to be seen to assist or condone the attempt by him to evade, obstruct or delay justice, lest you open yourself to a charge of being an accessory to a crime.

On behalf of our Tribunal and of many people who cannot speak, I call on you to stand on the law of nations and humanity, and offer no support or protection to Joseph Ratzinger or his accessories in their efforts to evade responsibility for their proven crimes.

I look forward to your reply, and to discussing this with you more when I visit your country in May with a human rights delegation to investigate this matter more closely.

Sincerely,

Kevin D. Annett, M.A., M.Div.

Secretary, The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State
Central Office, Brussels

cc: world media

Here's the background of the Jan 30th 2013 ITCCS court preceedings report.

Second Session of The International Common Law Court of Justice

http://itccs.org/2013/01/30/second-session-of-the-international-common-law-court-of-justice/

A Global Media Release and Advisory from The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State

"A final and lasting justice is owed to the dead and the living victims of the world's least-known and never-prosecuted Genocide" declares ICLCJ Prosecutor

Brussels (ITCCS Central):

Canada's first independent judicial proceeding concluded its Prosecution's case today against the institutions responsible for the death of more than 50,000 aboriginal children.

The International Common Law Court of Justice (ICLCJ) commenced a case on November 6, 2012 against Canada and its churches for crimes against humanity in the Indian residential school system. Today, the Prosectutor's Office of the Court posted its complete case containing 150 exhibits and other evidence proving that Canadian church and state are guilty of intentional genocide and a criminal conspiracy against indigenous children.

The complete case can be watched below:



The Prosecution has named and subpoenaed as defendants Pope Benedict and the Vatican, the Crown and Queen of England, the Prime Minister of Canada and fiduciary officers of the Catholic, Anglican and United churches.

"Our aim is nothing less than the disestablishment of the institutions responsible for the worst Genocide in human history: the planned extermination of indigenous nations and their children on this continent" summarized ICLCJ advisor to the Prosecutor's Office, Kevin Annett Eagle Strong Voice today.

In his summation, Annett called on the Court's fifty eight sworn Citizen Jurors to bring in a guilty verdict against the defendants and a sentence of no less than twenty five years in prison for them and the forfeiture of their wealth.

The Prosecution also demanded the seizure of the property and assets of the named churches "as part of true reparations", and the legal dis-establishment of the same churches.

"International law does not suffer genocidal organizations to enjoy tax exemptions, privileges and legal protection, and actually encourages citizens to shun such bodies. This Court can do no less, since we stand on the Nuremberg standards and the Rome Statute" said Annett.

The ICLCJ has given the thirty two subpoenaed defendants seven days to present their defence, or face a decision in absentia. If the defendants fail to respond, the Citizen Jurors will retire to render their verdict on the evidence.

Meanwhile, both aboriginal and non-native supporters of the Court are planning direct actions to implement the verdict, including by withholding tax payments to the government of Canada and occupying and seizing churches responsible for the deaths of native children.

One such Canadian tax-withholder, Andrew Paterson, will be interviewed on on the Court's new global blog radio program, "We the Jury: A Forum without Borders", which commences this Saturday, February 2 at 4 pm EST, 9 pm GMT, at www.blogtalkradio.com/wethejury .

Follow www.itccs.org for the Jury`s final verdict and further developments.

Issued by ITCCS Central – Belgium
30 January, 2013

Pope will have security, immunity by remaining in the Vatican
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/15/us-pope-resignation-immunity-idUSBRE91E0ZI20130215

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY | Fri Feb 15, 2013 1:59pm EST

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict's decision to live in the Vatican after he resigns will provide him with security and privacy. It will also offer legal protection from any attempt to prosecute him in connection with sexual abuse cases around the world, Church sources and legal experts say.

"His continued presence in the Vatican is necessary, otherwise he might be defenseless. He wouldn't have his immunity, his prerogatives, his security, if he is anywhere else," said one Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It is absolutely necessary" that he stays in the Vatican, said the source, adding that Benedict should have a "dignified existence" in his remaining years.

Vatican sources said officials had three main considerations in deciding that Benedict should live in a convent in the Vatican after he resigns on February 28.

Vatican police, who already know the pope and his habits, will be able to guarantee his privacy and security and not have to entrust it to a foreign police force, which would be necessary if he moved to another country.

"I see a big problem if he would go anywhere else. I'm thinking in terms of his personal security, his safety. We don't have a secret service that can devote huge resources (like they do) to ex-presidents," the official said.

Another consideration was that if the pope did move permanently to another country, living in seclusion in a monastery in his native Germany, for example, the location might become a place of pilgrimage.

POTENTIAL EXPOSURE

This could be complicated for the Church, particularly in the unlikely event that the next pope makes decisions that may displease conservatives, who could then go to Benedict's place of residence to pay tribute to him.

"That would be very problematic," another Vatican official said.

The final key consideration is the pope's potential exposure to legal claims over the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandals.

In 2010, for example, Benedict was named as a defendant in a law suit alleging that he failed to take action as a cardinal in 1995 when he was allegedly told about a priest who had abused boys at a U.S. school for the deaf decades earlier. The lawyers withdrew the case last year and the Vatican said it was a major victory that proved the pope could not be held liable for the actions of abusive priests.

Benedict is currently not named specifically in any other case. The Vatican does not expect any more but is not ruling out the possibility.

"(If he lived anywhere else) then we might have those crazies who are filing lawsuits, or some magistrate might arrest him like other (former) heads of state have been for alleged acts while he was head of state," one source said.

Another official said: "While this was not the main consideration, it certainly is a corollary, a natural result."

After he resigns, Benedict will no longer be the sovereign monarch of the State of Vatican City, which is surrounded by Rome, but will retain Vatican citizenship and residency.

LATERAN PACTS

That would continue to provide him immunity under the provisions of the Lateran Pacts while he is in the Vatican and even if he makes jaunts into Italy as a Vatican citizen.

The 1929 Lateran Pacts between Italy and the Holy See, which established Vatican City as a sovereign state, said Vatican City would be "invariably and in every event considered as neutral and inviolable territory".

There have been repeated calls for Benedict's arrest over sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

When Benedict went to Britain in 2010, British author and atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins asked authorities to arrest the pope to face questions over the Church's child abuse scandal.

Dawkins and the late British-American journalist Christopher Hitchens commissioned lawyers to explore ways of taking legal action against the pope. Their efforts came to nothing because the pope was a head of state and so enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

In 2011, victims of sexual abuse by the clergy asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the pope and three Vatican officials over sexual abuse.

The New York-based rights group Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and another group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), filed a complaint with the ICC alleging that Vatican officials committed crimes against humanity because they tolerated and enabled sex crimes.

The ICC has not taken up the case but has never said why. It generally does not comment on why it does not take up cases.

NOT LIKE A CEO

The Vatican has consistently said that a pope cannot be held accountable for cases of abuse committed by others because priests are employees of individual dioceses around the world and not direct employees of the Vatican. It says the head of the church cannot be compared to the CEO of a company.

Victims groups have said Benedict, particularly in his previous job at the head of the Vatican's doctrinal department, turned a blind eye to the overall policies of local Churches, which moved abusers from parish to parish instead of defrocking them and handing them over to authorities.

The Vatican has denied this. The pope has apologized for abuse in the Church, has met with abuse victims on many of his trips, and ordered a major investigation into abuse in Ireland.

But groups representing some of the victims say the Pope will leave office with a stain on his legacy because he was in positions of power in the Vatican for more than three decades, first as a cardinal and then as pope, and should have done more.

The scandals began years before the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope in 2005 but the issue has overshadowed his papacy from the beginning, as more and more cases came to light in dioceses across the world.

As recently as last month, the former archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, was stripped by his successor of all public and administrative duties after a thousands of pages of files detailing abuse in the 1980s were made public.

Mahony, who was archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 until 2011, has apologized for "mistakes" he made as archbishop, saying he had not been equipped to deal with the problem of sexual misconduct involving children. The pope was not named in that case.

In 2007, the Los Angeles archdiocese, which serves 4 million Catholics, reached a $660 million civil settlement with more than 500 victims of child molestation, the biggest agreement of its kind in the United States.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the pope "gave the fight against sexual abuse a new impulse, ensuring that new rules were put in place to prevent future abuse and to listen to victims. That was a great merit of his papacy and for that we will be grateful".

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Additional reporting by Robin Pomeroy; Edited by Simon Robinson and Giles Elgood)

Roman Church admits the Pope’s Guilt: Joseph Ratzinger to Evade Justice and Hide out in the Vatican for his own legal immunity and “protection”
http://itccs.org/2013/02/16/roman-church...and-protection/

Posted on February 16, 2013 by itccs
Exclusive Breaking News: Friday February 15, 2013
12 midnight GMT

An Urgent Update from the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) – Brussels
Rome:

"In a statement to Reuters today, Vatican officials announced that Joseph Ratzinger will remain a permanent resident of Vatican City after his resignation. Doing so will offer him legal protection from any attempt to prosecute him in connection with sexual abuse cases around the world, Church sources said today

"His continued presence in the Vatican is necessary, otherwise he might be defenseless".

This startling admission of guilt by the church is also a direct obstruction of justice, and lends more weight to the charge by the ITCCS and others that the Vatican has arranged with the Italian government to shield Ratzinger from criminal prosecution, in violation of international laws ratified by Italy.

Commentary:

The Vatican decided today to give permanent sanctuary to a proven war criminal by allowing Joseph Ratzinger to obstruct justice and evade prosecution for crimes against humanity. And the government of Italy is colluding in this abrogation of international law.

This decision validates our claims about the criminal conspiracy surrounding Ratzinger and his Vatican co-conspirators. It also makes it clear that the Vatican is a rogue power that is flaunting every law to conceal its own criminality.

In response, the ITCCS calls upon its affiliates and all people of conscience to use our upcoming Easter Reclamation Campaign to converge on Rome and the Vatican to force the extradition of Ratzinger from Vatican City, and place him and his accessories on trial for crimes against humanity.

Commencing Sunday, March 24, 2013, our activists and others will begin an escalating series of Catholic church occupations and seizures of church property to bring about Ratzinger's extradition and reclaim stolen wealth from the criminal corporation known as Vatican Inc. – in the name of the legion of their victims, both living and dead.

.. and from Kevin Annett – The Rat Scurries Back to Vat!

Those whom the gods destroy, they first drive insane. Especially, it seems, in Rome.

Why would the oldest and wealthiest institution on our planet deliberately prove what its critics say about it, by first tossing their leader, a proven crook, out of his office after he's threatened with arrest, and then giving him shelter to avoid prosecution? That's the kind of panic and illogic displayed by a junior document-shredder, not a credible or wise body of men.

And that gives all of us hope.

Rome's incredible admission that they can't have the Pope stand trial has strengthened our cause and legitimacy enormously, proving that no matter how big is your guilty opponent, provoking him for long enough will cause him to destroy himself by his own fear and stupidity.

Protecting Ratzinger within the walls of the Vatican may halt justice for a moment, but it violates a basic rule of warfare, which is to never give your enemy a permanent focus for their attack. Ratzinger, the evil Emperor, now a permanent fixture in the Vatican? The absurdity of offering such an ongoing focus to the civilized world's hatred of catholic criminality is also a sign that the church is adrift and improvising. But it also shows how genuinely worried is the Vtaican about the legal offensive mounted by our affiliates, lawyers for torture survivors, and the International Criminal Court.

The Vatican is pulling out all stops to keep Ratzinger out of court. Their loyal, one-man owned Italian media is assaulting the nonsense out of yours truly and our ITCCS these days, playing the "Deny, Distract and Discredit" strategy of any damage-controlling corporation.

Tottering Liz Windsor, aka Queen of England, is making a special and unprecedented trip to Rome on March 6 to kiss the ring, or other parts, of the new CEO of Vatican Inc. And Italian President Napolitano is meeting with President Obama today in Washington to undoubtedly line up more American backing for the Pontiff – not that Obama needs much encouraging, having stood loyally behind Ratzinger's claim of "diplomatic immunity".

But all to no avail, ultimately. When the Bloody Emperor stands naked, only our illusions keeps him protected and immune from the final accounting that is coming.

The tornado that followed my first exorcism outside the Vatican in 2009, and the lightning that struck it on the day of Benedict's resignation, were not accidental. Joe Ratzinger should know from the history of his own former SS buddies that criminal institutions can run, but they can't hide – even behind all the wealth and pomp in the world."

Are you sure you want to be one of Arnetts runners?

Maybe do a little reseach on others who "ran" for him?

Like
http://stopkevinannett.wordpress.com/

Arnett was a clergyman for the United Church in Canada and was "defrocked" and expelled in 1995.

If he has his way, not only would he bring down the Catholic church, but he would destroy CANADA!

Return the land to the Natives ---


Now I'm all for Natives having equal rights and being treated with respect just like everyone else.
But where would Arnett's plans land this whole country?

As someone pointed out about the ITCCS:

- "They" call themselves the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State.
- According to their own website, they were established in June 2010
- Despite being an "international tribunal", the tribunal members page on their website features only ONE person.... Acting Secretary: Kevin D. Annett, M.A., M.Div. (Canada)

Their "official page" is nothing more than a Wordpress blog, and they don't have any actual juristiction or enforcement capabilities.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread859161/pg1

Thank you for this information, Rosangela.

It seems that this is a one person organization without any real clout.

Perhaps, this is why news media, such as CNN, CTV, etc. are not even looking at this aspect of the Pope's resignation.

It's one person (kevin Arnett) who is the "energy" behind it, but there are individuals who have supported him.

However, this "International Tribunal" ITCCS, is by no means the International Court of Justice -- its just a self-empowered citizens “court”, with no real power, other than in it's propaganda big talk.


Now here's an interesting observation:

The ITCCS claims:
“The ITCCS has the endorsement of over thirty organizations, including eight indigenous nations in North America and Asia, survivors of Catholic church torture in Ireland, Australia and England, and the autonomous sovereign nation of Eurostaete.”


Now consider -- the above claim only names ONE endorsing organization in the above claim -- the sovereign nation of Eurostaete.


Where is Eurostaete?

Sounds impressive? As if they had the endorsement of some department of the European Union.
In fact, at this ITCCS website it shows the flag with the name Eurostat (not Eurostaete).

BUT

Eurostaete is a "no man's land" resulting from a border dispute between the Netherlands and Germany -- Essentially there once was a ditch marking the border, the ditch was filled, but the dispute occured over which country owned the ditch. Eurostaete is this filled in ditch -- it is simply a strip of no man’s land of about 500 meters long and 6 meters wide. And yes, there are a handful of people living there claiming statehood.
Such a tiny state could be valuable to man such as Kevin -- for if you can lead in a state you can make your own rules in that state!


Eurostat on the other hand is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide statistical information to the institutions of the European Union (EU)

I think it is rather deceptive of Kevin Arnett, to show a flag with Eurostat on it, when it's Eurostaete that endorses him!

And if he is deceptive here -- how else is he being deceptive?



As to the Republic of Kanata also mentioned on that website? What is that?
Arnett has designed a new flag for Canada!
He's calling for a revolt against Canada's connections with England, changing Canada's name to it's Indian spelling, and the establishment of the Republic of Kanata.

Did he design the flag to honor himself by placing an eagle above a tree -- after all his Indian name is "eagle strong voice". Seems rather egotistical.

At least 3,000 deaths linked to Indian residential schools: New research
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/at-least-3-...1#ixzz2LLY1Ojsh

Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press
Published Monday, Feb. 18, 2013 10:43AM EST
Last Updated Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 7:18AM EST

TORONTO -- At least 3,000 children, including four under the age of 10 found huddled together in frozen embrace, are now known to have died during attendance at Canada's Indian residential schools, according to new unpublished research.
While deaths have long been documented as part of the disgraced residential school system, the findings are the result of the first systematic search of government, school and other records.

"These are actual confirmed numbers," Alex Maass, research manager with the Missing Children Project, told The Canadian Press from Vancouver.

"All of them have primary documentation that indicates that there's been a death, when it occurred, what the circumstances were."

The number could rise further as more documents -- especially from government archives -- come to light.
The largest single killer, by far, was disease.
For decades starting in about 1910, tuberculosis was a consistent killer -- in part because of widespread ignorance over how diseases were spread.

"The schools were a particular breeding ground for (TB)," Maass said. "Dormitories were incubation wards."
The Spanish flu epidemic in 1918-1919 also took a devastating toll on students -- and in some cases staff. For example, in one grim three-month period, the disease killed 20 children at a residential school in Spanish, Ont., the records show.
While a statistical analysis has yet to be done, the records examined over the past few years also show children also died of malnutrition or accidents. Schools consistently burned down, killing students and staff. Drownings or exposure were another cause.

In all, about 150,000 First Nations children went through the church-run residential school system, which ran from the 1870s until the 1990s. In many cases, native kids were forced to attend under a deliberate federal policy of "civilizing" Aboriginal Peoples.

Many students were physically, mentally and sexually abused. Some committed suicide. Some died fleeing their schools.
One heart-breaking incident that drew rare media attention at the time involved the deaths of four boys -- two aged 8 and two aged 9 -- in early January 1937.

A Canadian Press report from Vanderhoof, B.C., describes how the four bodies were found frozen together in slush ice on Fraser Lake, barely a kilometre from home.
The "capless and lightly clad" boys had left an Indian school on the south end of the lake "apparently intent on trekking home to the Nautley Reserve," the article states.
A coroner's inquest later recommended "excessive corporal discipline" of students be "limited."
The records reveal the number of deaths only fell off dramatically after the 1950s, although some fatalities occurred into the 1970s.
"The question I ask myself is: Would I send my child to a private school where there were even a couple of deaths the previous year without looking at it a little bit more closely?" Maass said.
"One wouldn't expect any death rates in private residential schools."

In fact, Maass said, student deaths were so much part of the system, architectural plans for many schools included cemeteries that were laid out in advance of the building.
Maass, who has a background in archeology, said researchers had identified 50 burial sites as part of the project.
About 500 of the victims remain nameless. Documentation of their deaths was contained in Department of Indian Affairs year-end reports based on information from school principals.
The annual death reports were consistently done until 1917, when they abruptly stopped.

"It was obviously a policy not to report them," Maass said.
In the 1990s, thousands of victims sued the churches that ran the 140 schools and the Canadian government. A $1.9-billion settlement of the lawsuit in 2007 prompted an apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The research -- carried out under the auspices of the commission -- has involved combing through more than one million government and other records, including nuns' journal entries.
The longer-term goal is to make the information available at national research centre.