Ratzinger's empire strikes back

It’s been already almost a week since Stephen Hawking declared that God wasn’t necessary for the existence of the universe. Predictably this caused weeping and gnashing of teeth among believers, who saw their beliefs and their God being beaten by one of science's heavy weights.
As expected, religious leaders from around the world came out to defend their “creator” from being stripped of such title by one of the most important physicists in the world

The most remarkable declarations are as follow:

“Belief in God is not about plugging a gap in explaining how one thing relates to another within the Universe" - Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

"Science is about explanation. Religion is about interpretation. The Bible simply isn't interested in how the Universe came into being" - Lord Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth

But the most important mention about this issue comes from Ratzinger himself in his letter to the World Youth Day Madrid 2011 (a text that was kind of hard to find in English)

Indeed, there is a strong current of secularist thought that aims to make God marginal in the lives of people and society by proposing and attempting to create a "paradise" without him. Yet experience tells us that a world without God becomes a "hell": filled with selfishness, broken families, hatred between individuals and nations, and a great deficit of love, joy and hope.

It's going to be hard to find such cynicism in so few words written by someone else. Ratzinger accuses secularism of creating a godless "hell" filled with selfishness and hatred. Yet, the Catholic Church has been one of the greatest sources of selfishness, where all the power is concentrated in a group of people, and where the money is served not to help those in need, but to save priests who have sexually abused kids. The Catholic Church has, and still inspires hatred towards homosexuals, by denying them the same rights heterosexuals have, or by comparing women's ordination as priests to child sexual abuse.

But there is more

On the other hand, wherever individuals and nations accept God's presence, worship him in truth and listen to his voice, then the civilization of love is being built, a civilization in which the dignity of all is respected, and communion increases, with all its benefits.

You don't need to thing a lot to notice that when Ratzinger wants nations to listen to God's voice, he actually wants nations to listen to his voice. God isn't coming down to talk to us, or to explain to us how the Bible should be interpreted. In such society dignity for everyone will never be achieved, since the Catholic Church refuses to acknowledge the same rights for women and gays.

Finally

Yet some Christians allow themselves to be seduced by secularism or attracted by religious currents that draw them away from faith in Jesus Christ. There are others who, while not yielding to these enticements, have simply allowed their faith to grow cold, with inevitable negative effects on their moral lives.

Ratzinger obviously dislikes those who refuse to be mindless sheep. But there are some who, while retaining their identity as catholics, look for a better world based on science and human rights for everyone. Naturally, this concept is seen as negative by Ratzinger

Ratzinger's arrogance and disdain for science when it contradicts his beliefs are astonishing. This comes just months after the sexual abuse scandals in which the Catholic Church has been involved, with some cases still surfacing during these days.

It's no wonder that neither the British, nor the Scotish want to pay for Ratzinger's visits to their countries. After the irresponsible way in which the Catholic leader has handled the child sex abuse cases in those countries, it's understandable that the public don't want to fund his visit. No one likes a pedophiles enabler in their country. At least no rational and moral person.