In January 2008, Radio Vatican went looking for a ghostwriter for the pope – that is, for the speech Joseph Ratzinger is slated to hold in April before the United Nations in New York.

And where a fellow man is asking for help, people with a heart cannot hold back. Several Original Christians, committed to the original teachings of the Nazarene, did not hesitate and have sent to Eberhard von Gemmingen, the head of the German-speaking editorial department of Radio Vatican, a suggestion for the pope’s speech – adding, however, that they decline with thanks the first prize of participating in a general audience with the pope in Rome.

Draft of a speech that Pope Benedict XVI could hold in April, 2008 before the United Nations in New York

Representatives of all nations! You people in all the countries of this Earth, you, who are all children of the one Father in heaven!

As head of a church and as head of state of one of the smallest countries on Earth, I have been invited to speak to you. But today, this is a secondary issue. I want to speak to you today as a brother, as human being among human beings. That’s why I come before you in ordinary, simple clothing and not in splendid attire.

During the past weeks and months, I have reflected a great deal about what role the church, whose head I was elected to be, has played in the history of mankind, and still plays today. Particularly in a time, in which mankind is on the brink of a worldwide climate disaster, I can no longer remain silent. You people in all the world, I have to admit to you: The institution that I am responsible for is deeply in your debt.

Nature is inferior to man -
the crown of creation

It was the institution of the church that century after century taught people in the so-called Christian countries that nature has an inferior position to human beings, and that animals, in particular, have no souls. With this, in the eyes of people we have degraded nature, which has life breathed into it, and which is constantly permeated by the Spirit of God, into a mere thing, with which man can do as he pleases.

Over the centuries, we have laid the cornerstone for the so-called “progress” of modern western civilization – a progress that has brought people many a technical ease, which, however, with a cruel ruthlessness, ignored the natural basis of life for the planet Earth, because it starts with the unlimited exploitation of this Earth.

We condemned vegetarianism

Where individual people or movements wanted to bring about a true progress of the heart, we didn’t encourage it, but fought against it. Already in the fourth century, we condemned as “heresy” the teachings of the Early Christian vegetarian Priscillian and had him beheaded in Trier. During the Middles Ages, we had people burned as “heretics” when they refused to kill an animal.

Under my personal leadership, which I meanwhile deeply regret, even in the 20^th century we reinforced in our Catechism that people may avail themselves of animals, even for such cruel practices as animal testing.

We never raised a voice against
the egotistical exploitation of nature

The Holy See, whose representative I am as I stand before you today, has never uttered a word against the scandalous mistreatment of animals in industrial factory farming, which, as we know today, has an 18% higher share in climate change than does the whole worldwide transportation industry. To grow the feed for this factory farming, more rainforests are being constantly cut down.

We have said nothing against the mistreatment of our soil, the basis for life for all human beings, by a ruthless industrial agriculture that torments and leaches out the life of the soil with chemical fertilizers and agro-poisons, with animal excrements, which has cleared out whole swathes of land and tolerates no life outside of its own monocultures – just like the egoistical human, who lives in the delusion that he could live without nature, without the Mother Earth.

We banned reincarnation
from our doctrines
even though it is the truth

During the past weeks I have thought a great deal and have realized that we, the church, have primarily caused this madness. We have kept the law of sowing and reaping from the people, even though it can be read in our own Bible: “… whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Gal. 6:7)

If we had emphatically pointed out this law to the people, they could not torture the animals, destroy nature and wage wars against each other to this extent today – because they would have known that this cannot remain without consequences for their souls and possibly for their bodies, as well. Reincarnation, which is a known fact for many peoples of this world, we have also banned from our church doctrine, even though it is a truth, as the great theologian Origen knew in the third century. Why did we do this?

No need for intercessors...

It is a bitter recognition, but I must speak it out: We have kept these truths from people because then they would have taken over the responsibility for their lives.

Because they would have then been aware that they themselves are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and that they need no intercessors, neither priests nor bishops nor a pope, in order to grow closer to God in their inner being. Instead of this, we have tied them to external ceremonies and complicated dogmas, most of which stem from paganism, and over and over again have drummed into them the fear of the torments of hell, so as to better control them.

A bitter truth, particularly
for Catholics...

It is a bitter truth, particularly for the brothers and sisters who call themselves Catholic, but also for many other denominations that use the word Christ – however, during this hour I want to make a clean sweep of things and ease my conscience: In part, we have uttered the teachings of the Nazarene – but in reality, in many respects, we have done just the opposite of what He wanted and taught.

He was a pacifist – but we have justified wars over and over again, yes, we have even repeatedly driven the mighty of this world to start wars, so that we become mightier ourselves. Many wars in this world would have presumably not even broken out if, as the Nazarene wanted it, we had taught people that every war begins in the thoughts and feelings of the people, who with the help of the inner strength of Christ, should recognize and clear them up. But then we, the caste of priests, would have had to start with ourselves and be role models.

We have laid up
riches and might...

We have laid up riches and might in unimaginable measure, even though the Nazarene charged us not to lay up treasures, which moths and rust consume. Our churches are embellished with gold and filled with treasures. Where did they come from? The money and gold were extorted from the poor through church tithes, through extortion and raids, through the confiscation of the assets of those condemned by the Inquisition, or by plundering and murdering the natives of South America.

I am ashamed of this! And at this place I proclaim: What was robbed from the natives of South America and from other peoples of this Earth shall be given back to them! The gold treasures in the Vatican, the portfolios of stocks in countless firms, including the armament industry, will be liquidated in the coming weeks and the proceeds will go to the poor of this world, as a help for self-help in the spirit of the Nazarene: “Bear one another’s burdens.” (Gal. 6:2)

The institution Church has piled
crime upon crime onto itself!

I have to simply say it this way: The institution church has piled crime upon crime onto itself.
The German author Karlheinz Deschner, against whom we’ve always fought, was alas only too right when he wrote, and I may quote: “After intensely studying the history of Christianity, I know of no organization in antiquity, in the Middle Ages and during the present times, including and especially the 20^th century, that at the same time is so long, so continuously and so terribly burdened with crime as is the Christian Church, particularly the Roman-Catholic Church.”

I have to correct him on only one point: Unfortunately, according to what I have now recognized, we were never a “Christian Church” – because Jesus of Nazareth never founded a church. He founded Original Christianity – and that is, as I must admit today, something totally different.

We have never asked
for forgiveness

We have never asked mankind for forgiveness for the countless crimes that were committed in the name of God by my institution, the church. And my predecessor, Pope John Paul II, together with his cardinals, of whom I was also one, merely pretended to apologize in 2000. He spoke only of “individual Christians,” who had incurred guilt – thus, shoving the responsibility onto the church folk instead of the church and ultimately, the papacy, which ultimately should have and still has to answer for the injustice of the Inquisition, of the burning of witches, of the Crusades, of the bloody conquest of South America, just to mention a few.

This apology was meant to avoid putting the alleged infallibility of the papacy into question – an infallibility that Jesus of Nazareth never taught, because He never appointed a pope.

However, I don’t want to push the blame onto my predecessor for this totally inadequate and alleged request for forgiveness from 2000. As I said, back then, I was there myself and, referring to the time of the Inquisition, I spoke the following words: I will now quote myself back then…

“Let each of us gain the insight that people of the church, in the name of the faith and morals and in their necessary work to protect the truth, have now and then also resorted to methods that don’t correspond to the gospel.”

From today’s viewpoint, I have to say that at that time I not only once again made light of the Inquisition, I also neglected to ask forgiveness, with sincere heart, of all the victims that had to suffer under the brutality of ecclesiastical torture and the unmerciful eradication of everything not Catholic.

I ask forgiveness...

I ask all people and souls for forgiveness, who over the course of centuries were defamed, persecuted, robbed, banished, tortured and murdered by the Holy See.

In the name of the Holy See, I also ask for forgiveness of all people and souls who have become bewildered in their belief in God because of the crimes committed by the church and because of the dogmas laid down by the church, which have only very little to do with the teachings of the Nazarene. Above all, I ask for forgiveness of the children and young people who until very recently, were sexually abused by the priests of my church and have often suffered their whole life long from this abuse.

I ask all people and souls: Do not charge all that has happened to the account of the merciful God and His Son, Christ. They neither initiated nor wanted all this. Instead, it was and is alone the responsibility of the institution church.

I also ask forgiveness of the countless people, especially in Africa, who have to suffer under the consequences of a terrible disease called Aids, which is reinforced by the fact that my church, through unworldly, abstract moral concepts, prevents them from using corresponding means of protection.

I ask forgiveness of all animals
and plants...

By way of the Spirit of God, I also ask all animals and plants for forgiveness that, through the fault of my institution, have to suffer so unendingly under the savagery of mankind.

... of those who gave warning of the
impending climate disaster

I very specially ask forgiveness of those who over the past 30 years gave warning of the impending climate disaster. The present state of the Earth has opened my eyes. In the beginning, I said: The world is standing on edge of the abyss. But this didn’t have to happen. It would not be on the brink of a worldwide climate disaster if the Holy See had not disdained the many warnings that were given already decades ago by numerous scientists, but also by God-filled people, for whom the protection of Mother Earth as a planet blessed by God was and is truly a concern of the heart.

We can read in the Bible: “The Spirit of God blows where it wishes.” (John 3:8) However, to this very hour, the institution church raises the claim that the entire Bible – despite all the contradictions and in part, even atrocities that it contains – is the pure word of God. But it did not take this Bible verse in particular to heart. Instead, it tried to hinder and to silence the Spirit of God, which wanted to express itself in manifold ways, mainly outside the walls of the church. I also ask forgiveness for this today.

And I can say that in a certain way I am glad that despite all our efforts, we never completely managed to silence the Spirit of God. But I am profoundly sad that in many respects it seems to be too late to avert much of what mankind has set into motion on this Earth in the way of negativity. And I am especially sad that this happened mainly through the fault of the institution of which I am the head.

I can only humbly go down
on my knees before you...

I can merely humbly go down on my knees before you, before the representatives of all the nations of this Earth, and apologize. As a sign of penance and change, I decree that the church is dissolved as an institution and that its assets will benefit the poor.

I call upon the faithful...
the clergy... upon all peoples...

I call upon the faithful of my church, which is forthwith one no more: See yourselves as brothers and sisters, with all the people of this Earth. Turn to God in your inner being! Form brotherly-sisterly Original Christian communities in the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments – communities of people who help and support one another!

I call upon the priests, monks, cardinals and bishops: Take off your splendid attire! I have already done so. Live among the people from the work of your hands, as the carpenter Jesus did as an example.

And I call on all the peoples of this Earth: Respect the animals and don’t consume them anymore! Respect nature, which God gave us! If we end the war against Mother Earth – then it will be easier to end conflict and war among us human beings. Perhaps some of the things that are coming toward the Earth and mankind can then be averted and lessened. I wish this for all of us from the bottom of my heart!

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