Prez ignores opposition to pope's visit

Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was picketed today by an estimated 300 demonstrators protesting tomorrow's arrival in Washington of Pope Benedict the 16th.

The president, however, won't be paying much attention to such opposition, or critiques by television personalities, according to spokeswoman Dana Perino.

The demonstrators today wore white T-shirts with the wording, "Save 50 million Catholics from sexual abuse by priests." They also carried a large sign, saying: "Who is the leader of the world's most dangerous terrorist organization? Pope Benedict the 16th."

They also distributed cards identifying their leader as Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda. He is leader of the Creciendo en Gracia, based in Miami. Miranda is a native of Puerto Rico.

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The All About Cults website describes him as a former heroin addict and convict who believes he is the living incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Miranda travels with a security team of nine bodyguards and claims his followers reside in more than 20 countries. His followers give him their entire savings, cars, businesses and estates, including a million-dollar home in a gated community so that he can preach the devil, hell and sin are non-existent and the Ten Commandments are irrelevant, the site says.

In early 2007, he acknowledged others' claims he is the anti-Christ, and explained that the term is true. It applies because people no longer are to follow the "Jewish teachings" of Jesus of Nazareth but rather are to follow the Apostle Paul's teaching through Miranda.

According to Miranda the anti-Christ means no longer following Jesus of Nazareth as he lived in the days of his flesh. Most recently followers have shown their support by getting "666" tattooed on their bodies. That number, Miranda explained, is not a sign of the devil.

Pamphlets distributed in front of the White House contended "God is on Earth. His name? Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda."

At today's White House news briefing, Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent there, asked: "What is the president's reaction to the announcement that on Wednesday in Lafayette Square American atheists have scheduled a speakout concerning the papal visit, while HBO on April 11 telecast Bill Maher's defamation of the Holy Father, including the claim that he used to be a Nazi."

"I don't watch Bill Maher's show, so I couldn't tell you – couldn't comment on that. But we are in America and if people want to peacefully protest and speak their minds, then they're welcome to do so; and if they want to do that in Lafayette Square, they're welcome to do so," Perino said.

In New York at the national headquarters for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, attorney Bill Donohoe, the league's president, issued the following statement:

"Maher’s obsession with the Catholic Church continues, only this time there isn’t enough material for him to use as a club, so he literally makes things up. His lies include the following statement: ‘When the—when the current pope was in his previous Vatican job as John Paul's Dick Cheney—he wrote a letter instructing every Catholic bishop to keep the sex abuse of minors secret until the statute of limitations ran out.'

"A similar lie was floated by an angry ex-Catholic bigot, Rosie O'Donnell. The fact is that before he was named pope, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger had absolutely nothing to do with policing allegations of sexual abuse until 2002, after the scandal erupted that January. And he certainly never counseled bishops to keep sexual abuse secret—this is a bald face lie. Indeed, a week before Pope John Paul II died, he addressed the scandal by saying, 'How much filth there is in the church, even among those who, in the priesthood, should belong entirely' to God," Donohoe said.

"Maher also lied when he said the pope 'used to be a Nazi.' Like all young men in Germany at the time, he was conscripted into a German Youth organization (from which he fled as soon as he could). Every responsible Jewish leader has acknowledged this reality and has never sought to brand the pope a Nazi. That job falls to Maher. In 2005, after complaining about another bigoted outburst, I was told by Richard Plepler of HBO that 'it's a free country, and people are free to say silly things—even on HBO.' Last year, after another assault, I was told by Jeff Cusson (replying for Time Warner's CEO Richard Parsons), that Maher's anti-Catholic remarks were a matter of 'creative freedom.' Well, folks, no one has the freedom to libel someone," Donohoe said.

In a second question, Kinsolving asked: "WorldNetDaily reports from Jerusalem that Israel's cabinet member Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has said, 'Iran continues to aggravate the situation by supplying arms to Syria and Hezbollah. We must deal with this. An Iranian attack will prompt a severe reaction from Israel, which will destroy the Iranian nation.' What's the White House reaction?"

"I would just refer you to the things that the president has said. I'll refer you to his speech from last week when he talked about the concerns that we have about Iran, and that Iran has a choice to make: whether to be a good neighbor to Iraq or, if they continue to send weapons in that are killing our soldiers, that we are going to take them on," she said.

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