The Pope vs. Hitler

Campus Report ^ | May 18, 2009 | Malcolm A. Kline

[bs9021]

The Pope vs. Hitler

by: Malcolm A. Kline, May 18, 2009

Criticism of the Pope for his forced entry into the Hitler youth when he was a teenager misses an important point: He deserted. “Moreover, his failure to attend Hitler Youth meetings brought economic hardship to his family: it meant no discounts for school tuition,” Bill Donahue of the Catholic League For Religious and Civil Rights notes. “None of this was a stunt.”

“Furthermore, no one can deny that the pope was coerced into doing what the Nazis demanded of young men at the time. Günter Grass and Jürgen Habermas, two German intellectuals loved by the pope’s critics, were also forced to join the Hitler Youth. But because they are left-wing icons, no one implies they are anti-Semitic.” ...

[pallis]

The Pope and others have a new age Hitler to deal with, 0.

[Alex Murphy]

Criticism of the Pope for his forced entry into the Hitler youth when he was a teenager misses an important point: He deserted. “Moreover, his failure to attend Hitler Youth meetings brought economic hardship to his family: it meant no discounts for school tuition”

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