According to The Independent,
Germany’s biggest Catholic-owned publishing house has been rocked by disclosures that it has been selling thousands of pornographic novels with titles such as Sluts Boarding School and Lawyer’s !@#$% with the full assent of the country’s leading bishops.
The revelations made in the publishing-industry newsletter Buchreport concern Weltbild, a company with an annual €1.7bn (£1.5bn) turnover and 6,400 employees. It is Germany’s largest bookseller after Amazon and wholly owned by the Catholic Church.
Buchreport revealed that Weltbild’s massive assortment of titles available to customers online includes some 2,500 “erotic” books with unmistakably lewd titles including Call Me Slut!, Take Me Here, Take Me Now! and Lawyer’s !@#$%, to name a few. The publisher’s website also pictures the titles’ lascivious dust jackets that feature colour photographs of scantily clad women in high heels and erotic underwear.
Hmmm. So what’s the company have to say for itself?
Yesterday, Carel Haff, Weltbild’s managing director, was quoted as saying that the revelations had provoked “a very intense and critical dialogue” within the company. He said discussions were under way about possibly limiting the assortment of titles that would be available in future.
“Dialogue” and “possibility limiting” in the future? Doesn’t sound like an adequate response to me. Wonder what their bosses have to say.
Catholic bishops responded with a statement claiming that “a filtering system failure” at the publishing house had allowed the books to stray on to the market. “We will put a stop to the distribution of possibly pornographic content in future,” they said.
Well, that’s good. Although: “Possibly pornographic”? Could be a translation issue. Perhaps they mean it’ll be stopped whether it is actually pornographic or on the fringe of outright porn. If so, problem solved, then, right?
But Bernhard Müller, editor of the Catholic magazine PUR, dismissed the clerics’ reaction as grossly hypocritical. He alleged that the pornography scandal at Weltbild had been going on for at least a decade with the Church’s full knowledge. Mr Müller said that in 2008, a group of concerned Catholics had sent bishops a 70-page document containing irrefutable evidence that Weltbild published books that promoted pornography, Satanism and magic. They demanded that the publisher withdraw the titles.
But their protests appear to have been completely ignored. Writing in the Die Welt newspaper, Mr Müller said most of the bishops refused to respond to the charges. “The sudden proclaimed astonishment of many church leaders that pornographic material is being distributed by their publishing house, is play acting – bad play acting,” Mr Müller said. “Believers have been complaining to their bishops about this for years.”
Maybe we need a little more background on this situation.
The Catholic Church bought Weltbild more than 30 years ago. The publisher has gradually transformed itself into one of Germany’s largest media companies with the help of some €182m of Catholic Church tax levied on believers. To increase its profits, in 1998 the company merged with five other publishing houses that market pornographic titles. One of them is Droemer Knaur, which is 50 per cent church-owned. Another is Blue Panther Books, which was excluded from the list of participating publishers at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair allegedly because of the pornographic content of is titles.
Okay, and so have the bishops tried to take any action in the past?
It emerged yesterday that in an attempt to clear itself of potential embarrassment over the sale of porn, the Catholic Church tried to sell Weltbild in 2009. But the bishops apparently abandoned the idea after they failed to get the price they were asking.
I have to say that I find this story disturbing on multiple levels. Obviously, the first is the idea that a business owned by Catholic bishops is selling smut. That’s like a Really Bad Thing—a Thing That Must Not Be.
I’m frustrated, though, by the way the story is written. It’s not clear enough about what the facts are.
For example, is Weltbild publishing smut or merely distributing smut? Either way, it’s horrible. But it’s worse if they’re publishing it. Publishing a book requires much more intensive involvement than simply carrying it. It’s one thing to say, “This is a filtering problem; our purchasing agent stocked stuff that shouldn’t have been stocked,” and it’s another thing to say, “This goes way beyond a failure on the part of our purchasing agents; our whole editorial process is compromised to the point that we have a porn-production subdivision operating under our auspices.”
So I’m not clear from The Independent’s article which of these horrors is the case. As best I can tell the firm both publishes books and distributes other publishers’ books, and I don’t know which is in play here. Bad reporting from The Independent.
Then there’s Mr. Muller’s criticism of the German bishops. If his allegations are true then things are much more serious. If the German bishops knowingly allowed their company to publish or distribute porn then there is a whole additional layer of culpability here.
But is that automatically the case? Not all criticisms of bishops groups are accurate, nor do they all tell the whole story. Just who got the 2008 document? Did any bishops see it and read it? Was it round-filed by the office staff? Was it written in such a way that it provided the “irrefutable proof” that Mr. Muller claims? Or was it done in a way that would guarantee problems. If as proof of selling books “promoting pornography, Satanism and magic” all they cited was some romance novels and Harry Potter then one might understand why prior action wasn’t taken.
On the other hand, if the problem is as blatant as Mr. Muller makes out then one would think that at least some German bishops were aware of what was being sold in their own retail outlets or on their own website. Surely some of the bishops occasionally wandered into a store or bought a book of of the Weltbild website and saw what was being offered for sale.
How about the 2009 attempt to sell Weltbild? The story says that this was “in an attempt to clear itself of potential embarrassment over the sale of porn,” but is that Mr. Muller’s interpretation of the event? How do we know that was the motive.
I can think of another and rather obvious motive: What is a bishop’s conference doing running non-religious book and media service to begin with? It would be one thing for them to have a Catholic publishing house or a chain of Catholic bookstores, but Weltbild apparently functions as a secular business, and I don’t see why a bishops conference should be the sole owner of a business that functions in that manner.
I can thus see why some German bishops might want to get rid of it for that reason alone.
Both before and after his time as pope, Papa Ratzinger has emphasized the need of the Church to eliminate or re-focus institutions it’s operating so that the Church is not spending its energies on running things that operate in a purely secular manner. There may have been Vatican influence on this point.
On the other hand, if Mr. Muller is right and it was an attempt to get shed of the thing because it was distributing porn then that strikes me as shameful. The thing to do would be shut down the porn aspect of the thing. (And then sell it.)
My problem is that The Independent’s story is so poorly written that I can’t tell what the actual facts are.
I certainly don’t trust the reporter’s representation of them. The British press has it in for the Catholic Church in spades and must be expected to slant, distort, or even make up things with an eye to harming the Church. (Notice how the very first sentence tells us this was done with “with the full assent of the country’s leading bishops” and we don’t get to the bishop’s statement apparently contradicting this until paragraph five?)
So I don’t know what to think. The situation appears bad, but just how bad I cannot tell because of the bad journalism of The Independent.
What do you think?
Hard to tell, really. Is it just somebody trying to put the Church in a bad light? The details are so vague that I tend to lean towards that. If there was something in there that could prove the Bishops were running it, and fully aware that it was porn, you’d think the media wouldn’t miss out on the opportunity. However, they don’t prove anything or go into much detail, so maybe they just reported something that had the potential to be scandalous, but couldn’t go any further because there really is nothing there. Call me naive, but as a Catholic, I like to give my Bishops the benefit of the doubt (and the benefit of my prayers).
You see? This is what happens when you stop believing in a literal Adam and Eve.
Agnes, hundreds of German Catholics protested and the German bishops ignored their protests. When the bishops decided to sell the publishing house, they took it off the market when they couldn’t get the price they wanted.
These bishops aren’t behaving like apostolic successors. They’re behaving like the merchants in the Temple, whom Christ Himself cast out twice!
I’m sorry, Agnes, but I’m sick and tired of seeing Catholics take the “anti-Catholicism” route whenever bishops face legitimate criticism. The most anti-Catholic element out there is the Catholic hierarchy — in all countries, on all levels.
Hello again, Joseph.
Where in the article, or in Jimmy’s post, was there “legitimate” criticism? It seemed a little unclear to me.
Can you tell me how I’m wrong to hope that our Bishops are not publishing porn? I’m not saying they are innocent or guilty, but I’m hoping for the best.
Agnes you seem to be in denial mode, which is common enough among us Catholics. We find it hard to come to terms with the fact that this church is not all it’s cracked up to be. The light shining into the dark places within it can only be coming from one source. Some people believe we are living in the time of the apocalypse (the revealing) and the revelations coming out everywhere, not only within the RCC, would suggest that we are indeed in those times. Lady truth is making her presents felt, she is stripping off her clothes and exposing herself and there’s going to be a lot of red faces in the room. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. In other words, when truth gets naked, so does everything else. God help us all if we are not ready. Me personally, it would not surprise me in the least if it is true and probably much worse than we want to believe. The hierarchy have a lot to answer for. I expect they will not fair much better than the scribes and Pharisees of old and we know how Jesus felt about them. Time for me to get naked, metaphorically speaking of course. Christ have mercy on us all Amen.
I agree with you that there are some members of the Church who do not follow Her teachings. But I disagree that the “(C)hurch is not all it’s cracked up to be.” Whether the majority of Catholics follow the teachings, or there is only one faithful Catholic left, the teachings remain infallible. Society will change. The Church does not, other than expanding to meet the needs and challenges of the present day. But the underlying beliefs are always there.I am only hoping that the Bishops are innocent of a grevious sin. That, and prayer, is all I can really do. I do not deny that it is possible that they are in error. It has happened before. Too often, in fact. (See Father Cutie; Father Corapi; Bishop Howard Hubbard, etc.) I am familiar with the many Church scandals. So whenever I hear of another one, I just think to myself “Oh God, please not them too. Not when we need them to be strong the most.” So yes, I try to remain optimistic, but I know only too well that it is possible for anyone to fall. God Bless. +Agnes+
Brian, what information from Jimmy’s column–the only information some of us have, thus far–shows how Agnes is “in denial mode”?
Well Bill I went to every link I could find even had to get a web translator for some of the pages. Look I am sorry to break the bad news but this story is true and just as I expected, it’s even bigger than what is presently on the surface. It’s only natural to want to jump to the defence of things we hold dear. Damage limitation is in full swing but this is not going to go away. Like I said in my last comment, the naked truth is coming to us all, that includes me as well. I am not taking any delight in this; I’m just trying to be truthful. (see the truth) there is something very seriously wrong with the church and not just because of the sex scandals. I am not a prophet, but I can tell you there is going to be one spiritual earthquake after another until this church washes itself of its very long and sordid history. Stuff like this goes way way back in one form or another and I am talking from the very top to the very bottom. It’s time to open our eyes and lift our head out of the sand. I know this site very well and I have warned people here before but no one wanted to listen. You are all looking through rose coloured glasses and this site and the people who mostly comment are so legalistic (strict adherence to a literal interpretation of a law, rule, or religious or moral code) and blah, blah that you miss the very essence of Christ’ message. If this was/is the church that Christ said the gates of hell would not prevail against then it is quite obvious that something has gone horribly wrong somewhere along the way. We are getting a reality check. Pray if you must, but pray for truth first. I would be willing to bet that if I come back here in a day or two I will find that Jimmy and a host of others will be doing their best to explain this latest scandal away with the usual legalistic bunkum rather than face up to the truth. Sorry but that’s the way I see it. Remember the woe’s Christ spoke to the scribes and Pharisees they too were wrapped up in so much legalistic mumbo-jumbo that they managed to shut up the very doors of heaven to all who were striving to enter. Love is the way, not legalistic ramblings.
Dear Agnes I am sorry for coming across so strong, but this is the easy part. The real pain comes from not wanting to look and then having the whole wound opened up right in front of your eyes. I have been through a version of this in my own life and it was painful for all involved. No matter what way I turned it it still came up the same. If it had not been for my faith in Christ I would not be here today. He alone got me through. My part was to face the truth and even here, it was he that took my hand and led the way. I am telling you this because I have had my heart broken with this church, what must Christ feel like. I have had to watch something I loved very much (the Church) turn into something I hardly recognise anymore. BTW what I just said has nothing to do with me, or anyone I know, being abused by any official of the church. Just in case I give that impression. My “rift” with the Church runs much deeper. I would give you the link to my blog but I don’t want to hurt your feelings or give you the impression that I am just another Catholic Church basher, because I am not. Christ might rebuild it anew but he is going to trash it first because that’s all it’s worth at the moment. I will leave you with this gift to show my love for you and that I am sincere in my pain for what is taking place within the church and all over the world. Seek the truth and the truth will set you free.
Within my heart there stands a well, a well so deep that no bucket can be dropped to its depth. It is a well of love. To you, who wish to seek this love, must find within himself, the source that carries him to me. The love that is there is incomprehensible to man, but in your search for me- for the light that grows within you- search, search my children. I died to show you what my love consists of. Fly, fly to me to me and let me show you these things. The longing within your breast that drives you to me-it is I, my child, knocking on the door of your heart. I, too, long to live in you, just as you long to be with me. Feel me within you now. Feel the passion that grows there, for it is my love. I give you freedom, my children, from the ways that the world shows you. Come to me, for I long to take you away from this ruin that you set yourselves up in. Come, let me free you from your worries, your worthlessness. I long, I yearn for you every day that you live. (His majesty, the King of kings)
First of all, I must deny your accusation that the Church has faded into sin and is beyond repair. As I recall, it is not going to be “trashed,” according to the Bible, because of that dear old verse we all know so well; “the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” Now, you did mention that before, but I can’t go into detail now, (see later comments) but yes, this is the Church which Jesus was talking about.
Secondly, don’t worry about hurting my feelings. I’m never (at least I try) offended at someone’s honest opinion. I would love to take a look at your blog, if you don’t mind posting it on a public blog like Jimmy’s here.
Thirdly, thanks for the kind words at the end there, but I really am satisfied with the Catholic Church. I have found the Truth, and I’m not ready to leave it. Sure it’s members may not be perfect (after all, who is?) but the Church itself is infallible.
Fourth, if this is too personal, you don’t have to answer, but I take it you’re not Catholic. I hope you don’t mind my asking which church you do belong to? How exactly would you fulfill the last paragraph of your comment?
Fifth, and last, please do not charge my friend Jimmy here of trying to “cover up” the story. He has always been very precise and honest with his reports, and has admitted to the proven scandals, as well as defending the cases that were just brought forth by the media and had no real footing in reality. If you can find evidence of his being unfair please prove it. Otherwise, just drop it.
God Bless. -Agnes-
With all due respect, why isn’t anyone mentioning Judas, who was one of the Apostles who delivered Christ to His Glory much in the same manner that this Catholic publisher is delivering writhing, naked bodies to the eyes, hearts and minds of its own customers?
All this needless talk about the Church as a whole, whether it is good or bad… is IRRELEVANT. There are evil people who are within the Church just as there are good people who are not formal members of the Church, and the real issue is whether or not the radical faith can be found to fight and oust the evil for the betterment of souls. That the German Catholic Church is linked in any manner, no matter how esoteric, to the distribution of this soul-damning material is a heinous wrong that needs to be corrected.
There used to be bishops in Germania who would die to protect their flock. It appears that the Bishops there today as a whole are either willfully too confused about the legal red tape surrounding the issue or are holding out for a few more Euros before doing the right thing. Abominable, abominable, abominable.
If what is described is indeed the case, what we have here is a scandal that needs to be resolved and quickly.
On the other hand, the idea that the Church must be full of only saints to be worthy of my membership is absurd. For those who approach from that direction I recommend Groucho Marx, “Please accept my resignation. I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.” I’ll keep following from the place of the tax collector: Luke 18:13.
“I really am satisfied with the Catholic Church” your words Agnes.
I am a Roman Catholic for 51 years.
I don’t need to find evidence it is everywhere to be seen.
You don’t need to leave the church, I never said you should, but you do need to start fighting for it and you can’t do that with your eyes closed. Agnes do you even know what is going on in your own part of the church in the USA? I have one or two Roman Catholic Priest friends there and the abuse they are under, from their own bishops, over their stance against homosexual priests, is a disgrace. They are told to turn a blind eye to homosexual priests and keep their mouths shut. These homosexual priests taunt them for their holiness in keeping the commandments. In some cases these homosexual priests live together as a couple with the bishop’s full knowledge and silent approval. I have been told this practice is rampant. But you can deny this too as it is the norm
I will say a wee prayer for you, please do the same for me.
Brian.
Yes, of course I am aware of the state of the Church today. I fight for my Faith just about every day, on blogs, facebook, everyday life, in the grocery store, anywhere. Just because I am hoping that this is not another Church scandal, doesn’t mean I am oblivious to the possiblity of it being so.
Also, just because the media is focusing only on the scandals, doesn’t mean that’s all there is to the Church. There is a whole lot more in there that has 2000 years of history of standing up against the times, persecution, heresy, and treason from it’s own members. Just look at the very beginning. Judas betrays Jesus even before the Church is fully established. The Chruch has made it through dark times before, She will make it through again. Have faith.
God bless, and nice talking to you. 🙂
-Agnes-
Okay Agnes. god bless, nice talking to you too.
Sadly I can imagine the worst case scenario emerging from this… The Church needs to be chastized. That’s what God does to those He loves… And besides which we shouldn’t be surprised. Many within the Church are going the same route that the Pharaisees and Religious authorities in Christ’s day did… legalism, vagueness, sleeping with the secular authorities and secular politicians, burdening the good and faithful…
The Church however can’t claim ignorance. The Virgin mother of God herself warned them about bad things going on many times for decades… Catholics need to be outraged with these specific leaders! It’ll be different if this turned out to be some mistake over oversight. But this is either negligence of an imbecilic level or in the worst case scenario a knowledgable concealment.
The proper Christian reponse is to shut down the publication of any and all material. Halt selling any secular books that aren’t in accordance with our faith and Christian living, and stick with publishing Catholic ones only and maybe some practical selp help or educational books that are in accordance with Christian life and morality. And if that is too impossible a task with risk of bad things getting through, then shut down the company altogether and throw that money out the window. If you can’t do something right, then don’t bother.
Well… I keep hearing everyone shouting that we have more scandal now than at any time in history. This is not true. It behooves us to remember that there was a time in history, a time often seen as the “Golden Age” of the Church… when there were three simultaneous popes and two of them were “guests” of some monarch or other. (I believe this is the origin of the phrase “more Catholic than the Pope”, but I could be mistaken)
Also remember that this was when the Bubonic Plague reared it’s ugly head.
Now, I’m not predicting a rosy outcome here. Frankly, I don’t think we can predict the outcome, any more than we can say for certain when Our Lord shall return. We do know however, that He will, and that He keeps His promises.
There will always be another scandal. And if we go on for a while without one, one will be provided for us, I have no doubt. I also have no doubt that the Gates of Heaven will be secure against Satan, no matter how dim things look to us here on the ground.
Liquidate that barbarous temptation and give the proceeds to various organizations dedicated to the treatment of porn addiction. Give the bishops in question a lesson in what it means to live by the vow of poverty, chastity and obedience. While they yet breathe there is still hope for conversion.
St John of the Cross, Pray for us!
Agnes, does the idea that “the gates of Hell shall not prevail” refer exclusively to the ecclesiastical bureaucracy, or to the Catholic Church? Or does it, instead, refer to all Christians who listen to the True Shepherd’s voice and follow where He leads?
Ecclesiastical corruption has been part and parcel of the Catholic Church for centuries. St. Peter Damian wrote a book, “Liber Gomorrianus” (“The Book of Gomorrah”), that detailed sexual perversities by priests (with children, with concubines) as a challenge to Pope Leo IX. That pope initially supported Damian’s work, then backtracked under pressure from ecclesiastical bureaucrats. This was in the 11th century, Agnes!
Around the same time, St. John Chrystostom said, “the floor of Hell is paved with the skulls of bishops.”
Agnes, I suggest you read Ezekiel 34, Matthew 23 and I Samuel 2: 12-36. All those passages criticize the kind of “leadership” displayed by people who held authority in God’s name…and who abused that authority. The fact that they weren’t Catholic is irreelevant; it’s the principle that matters.
If the Catholic Church really is the “one true Church” that proclaims the “fullness of the Gospel,” then it will be judged by a far higher standard. It should be; Jesus Himself said that “much will be required from those who have received much.” If the Church fails or refuses to repent of what has corrupted it — institutional arrogance, a sense of entitlement, a class system that renders laity and clergy as peasants — then it has faded into sin and is beyond repair.
Agnes, it’s not enough merely to believe “right doctrine.” What does God really want? The prophet Micah put it best: to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly w/God. For far too long and much too often, Church leaders have done none of these things — and I include Benedict in this mess. If he cannot or will not discipline the bishops in question — especially since he probably has greater contact with the German church and knows more about it than anybody else — then he is not fit to be a shepherd.
Hello again, Joseph. Nice to hear from you.
No, St. Peter Damien wrote that book to condemn clerical homosexuality and perderasty within the Church. http://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=2
It was not a challenge to the Pope, it was to bring it to his attention, and show him the importance of this matter. The Pope is infallible, but he is not all-knowing.
Around the same time, St. John Chrystostom said, “the floor of Hell is paved with the skulls of bishops.” Actually, I believe that was St. Athanasius, but you could be right.You’d have to ask Jimmy about that one. Yes, there have been many corrupt bishops, and still are, (ex. Bishop Howard Hubbard, as I said before). But their actions do not change the teachings of the Church. Stop pointing fingers at the people, and show me an approved Church document that says She approves of these sins. You won’t find it. I can understand how many people feel let down by the Church, and betrayed. But it’s not the Church, it’s the traitors IN the Church, the wolves among the sheep. And yes, there have been problems fixing the problems.
Pope Benedict DOES discipline the Bishops. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/backing-bishops-sacking-australian-bishops-cite-doctrine-and-discipline-issues/
God Bless. ~Agnes~
If it is possible for the Church to be “beyond repair”, then Jesus was wrong when he promised that the Gates of Hell would never prevail against it. If Jesus was wrong, then he is not God. Therefore, to believe it is possible for the Church to be “beyond repair” is to deny the Divinity of Christ.
Agnes, I know that St. Peter Damian wrote that book to condemn clerical pederasty. The question is, why hasn’t something been done about it? After all, it’s only been a thousand years!! Even St. Alphonsus Ligouri said that clerical pederasts should be castrated!
The fact that no Church document approves of these sins is irrelevant. The fact that the Church does nothing to address the problem forthrightly — unless its secular, temporal interests are threatened — shows where the Church’s true priorities lie: the maintenance of power, prestige and a religious facade that effectively denies the redeeming power of the Holy Spirit.
As far as disciplining bishops is concerned, let me see examples that do not directly challenge doctrine and discipline, but moral turptitude. AKA, why does Cardinal Law still occupy places on various curial councils in Rome?
Bill912, I suggest you take a look at the vision of Pope Leo XIII, then tell me that believing that the Church is “beyond repair” equals denying Christ’s divinity. The fact that Catholics interpret Christ’s words in that manner does not make the interpretation correct.
Joseph, you are looking for something that does not exist. The Catholic Church was divinely instituted, but is populated by and for humanity. God has no need for the Catholic Church. God did not promise that the leaders or laity of the Catholic Church would be impeccable. He only promised that the Sprit would guide them in truth and that hell would not prevail against it. This, of course, would make sense since Jesus was leaving us in a material way for a while. (Also, just because you choose not to believe that the Catholic Church’s interpretation of Christ’s words is not the correct one does not make it so–this was not seriously doubted until Protestantism manufactured the doubt). All people have the proclivity for sin due to the Fall. Why would you expect that anyone would be immune from its effects? Why would you expect that any internal controls could prevent the sins of child abuse in the Church? As long as there are criminals, there will be crimes. God never promised the Church an exemption. I follow the Magisterium on matters of faith and morals. I do not follow the personal cults of individuals whether priests, bishops or popes.