![](https://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/116.jpg)
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
The Pope: Oh, definitely. It's in the teachings. The Pope's edicts are true. There can't be one church at the time of Christ, another a thousand years later, and another today. There is only one true interpretation of scripture.I see. So it's not like you just always have to win at snooker, or something?
Oh no! Nothing like that. It's only in matters of scripture.Is the Vatican aware of your existence? Have you ever corresponded with them?
I sent a notice of excommunication of Pope John Paul II to The Vatican in 1982. Obviously, I didn't hear back from him. Also, when I was first elected in 1990, one of the newspapers did a story about it and they phoned up the Vatican for comment. Obviously, it was just a typical "no comment" situation.[Here the interview veered away from the standard Q & A format. The remainder contains choice quotes from the conversation selected by the author, as well as brief interjections and commentary. - Ed.]If he held the reins in Rome, he assures us, the pedo-priests would've had their chips by now. He quotes a 16th Century Pontiff who decreed the punishment for pedophilia to be death, and a 1917 bill about the instant excommunication of sex-abusing priests."I hold prayer meetings, I perform the stations of the cross… And of course there's a lot of people interested in the Church around the world--and keeping up with all that correspondence takes a lot of my time."
Advertisement