Rupert “page three” Murdoch’s ‘papal knighthood’ shames Catholic church

What do the founder of the paralympics; a UN official who saved thousands of refugees; Jimmy Saville; and Rupert Murdoch have in common? Well, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Francis Martin O’Donnell, the veteran DJ and the media moghul are all Members of the Order of St Gregory the Great, an honour conferred by the Pope.

Rupert-Murdoch The poisonous publisher became a Knight Commander of St. Gregory in 1998. The Indepedent reported at the time (via Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion):

“The Roman Catholic church is receiving complaints from worshippers following news that Rupert Murdoch has been awarded a papal knighthood from Pope John Paul II.

“Senior Catholics are said to have been “mystified and astonished” when they heard that the purveyor of newspaper sex, scandal and nudity was made a Knight Commander of St Gregory at a ceremony in Los Angeles last month.

“News of the award was kept out of Mr Murdoch’s British titles - the Sun, the Times, the Sunday Times and the News of the World - at his request, although it is provoking outrage in the religious media and in Ireland, where many Catholics have reacted with anger that Mr Murdoch, who is not a Catholic, appears to have been honoured purely for donating large sums of money to the church”

Oddly enough, the following year he donated $10 million to build a Catholic cathedral in Los Angeles. There was upset in the Church at the time, and now Catholics are calling for Murdoch to be stripped of the title.

On an article on the Catholic Herald titled ’Debate: should Rupert Murdoch’s papal knighthood be rescinded?’, comments included:

“Murdoch should certainly be stripped of his knighthood. He should never in the first place have been awarded it. Not only does his latest behaviour and that of his company and his son disqualify him, he has been an enemy of anything that passes for decency for years.” – Harper

“He owns an American cable news service called FOX that has more-than-lost its “moral bearings,” especially in the way it has dehumanized Barack Obama not only as a human person but president of the United States.” – Jjkscw

“Murdoch brought the “Page 3 girls” to this land. For this demeaning of women as sexual objects alone, no Catholic should be speaking in his defence” – Editor CT

With forces in the Church of England pushing for the organisation to sell its £9 million in BSkyB and News Corp, the financial and personal losses sustained by Murdoch may begin to mount up.

http://twitter.com/shugyokem/status/91488989319671808 shugyokem

#Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' http://t.co/4s2lJrg @biblealsosays @orimeissa @schembrox @chrisgurr @onemanstweet @howarthm via @leftfootfwd
http://twitter.com/politicallybrit/status/91490753422954496 Brit Lefit

RT @leftfootfwd: Rupert "page three" Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' shames: http://bit.ly/pe4nIA by @DanielElton #hackgate #NewsCorpse
http://twitter.com/veniviedivici/status/91492047583850496 nobby-Lobby

RT @leftfootfwd: Rupert "page three" Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' shames: http://bit.ly/pe4nIA by @DanielElton #hackgate #NewsCorpse
http://twitter.com/eilirjones/status/91492111886725120 eilir jones

#Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' http://t.co/4s2lJrg @biblealsosays @orimeissa @schembrox @chrisgurr @onemanstweet @howarthm via @leftfootfwd
http://twitter.com/adpucci/status/91501760350404608 Pucci Dellanno

RT @leftfootfwd: Rupert "page three" #Murdoch 'papal knighthood' shames: http://bit.ly/pe4nIA by @DanielElton #hackgate .@repubblicait
Selohesra

You lefties are weird – what is so wrong with seeing a nice pair of baps – it is quite normal and they have appeared in art throughout history – you will even find some in the paintings on the Cistine Chapel. If God gave these girls terrific looks and they chose to appear in tastefull photo shoots then what is so wrong. It is just the dungereed, moustachiod, feminist trolls of the left who really get upset – they could always buy another paper. The Mirror perhaps assuming they approve of hacking into Sven & Ulrika’s private conversations
http://twitter.com/pcs_gonw_branch/status/91512744217542656 Rep in the Region

Rupert "page three" Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' shames Catholic church: http://t.co/drpOXEO by @DanielElton #hackgate #NewsCorpse
Brian

This man is the head of an empire that has utterly disgraced itself. So you approve of hacking into the phone of a murdered schoolgirl or the phones of those effected by the war in afghanistan, I’m sure you don’t. Then why hold this man up for praise? It is a scandal that he should have even be considered for a papal knighthood. If you want to look at bare baps, that’s your affair but there’s more to it than that. Grabbing and greed, for instance.
http://twitter.com/peterbatley/status/91543033060933633 Peter Batley

Rupert Murdoch given 'papal knighthood' by Catholic church: http://t.co/drpOXEO Another 'out of touch' act by the Vatican hierarchy.
scandalousbill

“…what is so wrong with seeing a nice pair of baps… If God gave these girls terrific looks and they chose to appear in tastefull photo shoots then what is so wrong.W

Selohesra, you really do need to get out more.
http://twitter.com/erskinehowcroft/status/91553647133065216 Erskine Howcroft

Rupert "page three" Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' shames Catholic church: http://t.co/drpOXEO by @DanielElton #hackgate #NewsCorpse
http://twitter.com/howarthm/status/91559724553748480 Meg Howarth

@jonsnowC4 RT @shugyokem: #Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' shames Catholic church http://t.co/WA19OOI. #NI #NOTW #HackedOff
http://twitter.com/spsot/status/91605152653516800 Spir.Sotiropoulou

RT @leftfootfwd: Rupert "page three" Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' shames Catholic church http://t.co/tyniK6J
http://twitter.com/itsmotherswork/status/91608634139738112 Itsmotherswork

“@spsot: RT @leftfootfwd: Rupert "page three" Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' shames Catholic church http://t.co/jIuLQ02 ”
http://twitter.com/howarthm/status/91608952495804417 Meg Howarth

@jonsnowC4 Hope room for mention of #Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' http://t.co/WA19OOI also Abbot's crass insensitive tweet re #hacking
http://twitter.com/interuncut/status/91610364134952960 InternationalUNCUT

Rupert "page three" Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' shames Catholic church | Left Foot Forward http://fb.me/Ecb0LMK0
http://f Mr. Sensible

Selohesra I don’t read the tabloids for that reason. I stick to the Guardian; real news… I don’t want to be reading about that sort of rubbish; I want to be reading about Libya, about what’s happening to the NHS, about what’s going on in Africa…
http://twitter.com/packard_sonic/status/91646293742587904 Packard Sonic

RT @BibleAlsoSays: RT @shugyokem Rupert “page three” Murdoch’s ‘papal knighthood’ shames Catholic church http://t.co/polyu78
http://www.apathyinternational.com/aboutai.html whoever Maybe, Esq

@Selohesra
RTFA – It’s not the lefties complaining about the Papal Knighthood, it’s the members of the Roman Catholic church that don’t like it.
- Hardly what you might call a left-wing organisation
Al

@Selohesra

Which bridge do you normally live under?!
http://twitter.com/richard_venters/status/91808634983550977 Richard Venters

RT @leftfootfwd: Rupert "page three" Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' shames Catholic church http://t.co/u0odm7u
Selohesra

Good grief what a sad lot you are – you will be saying you don’t find Benny Hill funny next. As I noted originally the church can be quite tolerant to nudity – it appears all over some of the finest decorative works in it’s churches. You lot are just a bit too pc and should lighten up a bit
http://twitter.com/guerraeterna/status/91896378745294848 Iñigo S. Ugarte

Juan Pablo II nombró a Murdoch en 1998 caballero de la orden de San Gregorio. http://j.mp/q2JKlW En homenaje a la chica de la pág. 3 quizá.
http://twitter.com/pixelrobot/status/91896515328618496 יוחנן בָּרוּךְ

Juan Pablo II nombró a Murdoch en 1998 caballero de la orden de San Gregorio. http://j.mp/q2JKlW En homenaje a la chica de la pág. 3 quizá.
http://twitter.com/xavierborras_/status/91896826785054720 Xavier Borràs

Juan Pablo II nombró a Murdoch en 1998 caballero de la orden de San Gregorio. http://j.mp/q2JKlW En homenaje a la chica de la pág. 3 quizá.
http://twitter.com/pau_droid/status/91897456299753473 Pau Droid

Juan Pablo II nombró a Murdoch en 1998 caballero de la orden de San Gregorio. http://j.mp/q2JKlW En homenaje a la chica de la pág. 3 quizá.
http://twitter.com/penalba/status/91898114444759040 Peñalba

Juan Pablo II nombró a Murdoch en 1998 caballero de la orden de San Gregorio. http://j.mp/q2JKlW En homenaje a la chica de la pág. 3 quizá.
http://twitter.com/kefalopoda/status/91899894914228224 Carlos González V

Juan Pablo II nombró a Murdoch en 1998 caballero de la orden de San Gregorio. http://j.mp/q2JKlW En homenaje a la chica de la pág. 3 quizá.
http://twitter.com/midecadencia/status/91900440450572290 Jonathan

Juan Pablo II nombró a Murdoch en 1998 caballero de la orden de San Gregorio. http://j.mp/q2JKlW En homenaje a la chica de la pág. 3 quizá.
http://twitter.com/dubitador/status/91988291347431424 Dubitador

Juan Pablo II nombró a Murdoch en 1998 caballero de la orden de San Gregorio. http://j.mp/q2JKlW En homenaje a la chica de la pág. 3 quizá.
Mr. Sensible

Never seen any Benny Hill.
http://twitter.com/samoa92109/status/94425997495115776 sAMOa92109

RT @leftfootfwd: Rupert "page three" Murdoch's 'papal knighthood' shames Catholic church http://t.co/qXQmyYy . OFF WITH HIS HEAD
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2012/01/sunday-times-stoop-to-new-low-with-poll-asking-if-ed-miliband-is-too-ugly/ Sunday Times stoop to new low with poll asking if Ed Miliband is “too ugly” | Left Foot Forward

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