Posted on 04/19/2005 5:03:46 PM PDT by wagglebee
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany has been elected as the next pope of the Roman Catholic Church and will take the name Benedict XVI. There are some who may criticize the election of Cardinal Ratzinger, since he joined the Hitler Youth at age 14 as a child growing up in Germany. I think any such criticism is unfounded.
How can the decision to join the Hitler Youth corps be the responsibility of a child? The Nazis brilliantly exploited German children with the games and military outfits that most youngsters enjoy. Former New York Times Executive Editor Max Frankel, in the opening paragraph of his book "The Times of My Life and My Life With The Times," summed up a child's feelings at the time:
"I was not yet three years old when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, and I could have become a good little Nazi in his army. I loved the parades: I wept when other kids marched beneath our window without me. But I was ineligible for the Aryan race, the Master Race that Hitler wanted to purify of Jewish blood and other pollutants so that it could rule the world for ‘a thousand years.'"
The leader of the Hitler Jugend, Balder von Shirach, was convicted at Nuremberg after the war and sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, the Allies did not find that the Hitler Jugend organization itself was a criminal organization.
If Cardinal Ratzinger had not joined the Hitler Youth, it would have been because his parents kept him out, which some – but very few – parents did. While Germans were not automatically jailed or shot for such conduct, you can be sure that refusing to cooperate with the Nazi authorities would have subjected them to adversity. Very few people had the courage to stand up to the Nazi murderers, especially when their children's lives were involved.
One of the highest priorities of the new pope hopefully will be to maintain a close relationship between Jews and Catholics, an effort begun by Pope John XXIII and vastly expanded by Pope John Paul II. I hope it is seen as a priority by the new pope. Of course, the new pope will continue to seek a reconciliation with other Christian faiths and a continuing dialogue with the representatives of Islam.
Cardinal Ratzinger in his homily delivered immediately before the conclave said he does not believe in syncretism, the attempt to reconcile different faiths. He probably would not attend on any occasion the service of another faith.
He is not alone in this position. Orthodox rabbis (but not Conservative or Reform rabbis) take the same position, as do some Protestant clergy. Indeed, some would go so far as to seek to punish a member of their sect if he were to participate in or even attend a joint service commemorating a public event, including memorializing a tragedy such as 9/11.
Pope John Paul II visited a Roman synagogue – the first pope to do so – and placed a written prayer in a crevice of the Western Wall. That, for me, set the standard. It is my hope that Cardinal Ratzinger as pope will follow in John Paul's footsteps, and that others, Jewish and Protestant, will embrace, as John Paul II did, members of other faiths, remembering that we will all ultimately answer to the same God.
"I was not yet three years old when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, and I could have become a good little Nazi in his army. I loved the parades: I wept when other kids marched beneath our window without me. But I was ineligible for the Aryan race, the Master Race that Hitler wanted to purify of Jewish blood and other pollutants so that it could rule the world for ‘a thousand years.'"
I have no doubt that before the week is out, the New York Slimes will have painted Pope Benedict XVI as being more evil than Hitler ever dreamed.
That's why they're the NY Slimes...
Hitler's Rottweiler, no doubt ...
My wife's uncle was a Hitler youth at a very young age.
He is anything but a nazi.
Stalin had a similiar practice i believe. I don't hold children responsible for the assimilation of these entities. They are brainwashed into service, and their parents usually allow it out of fear of reprisal. Clearly as an adult he rejected it, that is what matters.
Cardinal Ratzinger in his homily delivered immediately before the conclave said he does not believe in syncretism, the attempt to reconcile different faiths. He probably would not attend on any occasion the service of another faith.
Now that is interesting. I respect that position, because I refuse to reconcile mine to come to a compromised generic belief. Differences exist for reason. While I have no desire to lose sight of the most important component Christians share in common, Jesus Christ, that doesn't mean I'll dismiss where we do disagree.
That's why they're the NY Slimes...
=======
The Communist rag, the NYT and all the rest of the socialist media, was predicted with ultimate precision, that they would attack the choice of Pope, if the Pope was not a flaming leftist, liberal, gay-pandering activist.
Choke on it MSM -- you pathetic losers -- !!!
I think a German pope will instill a moral compass in that country like it did in Poland and get another big piece of europe steered away from relativistic, nihilistic leftist sop it has been stuck with for a long time.
IMO, I wouldn't be surprised if that was a consideration in his nomination.
What is Christianity's greatest enemy right now? Islam? No, the president has been handling that problem. Communism? A concern especially in China but the Soviets fell and so can they. The internet playing a major role. The alliance between Australia, Taiwan, japan and the U.S. playing another.
The greatest threat, imo, to Christianity is the secular humanism that has embraced Europe. The Culture of Death. No better place to confront it than in the heart of Germany.
Yes, he's had plenty of time to reflect. Makes a big difference!
Yes, the left is piling on (and not so surprising, already have their "talking points" in order and all are repeating ad naseum, citing "some Catholics") especially with the "Rotweiller" moniker and the Ratzinger's time spent in the Hitler Youth Group.
God, (oops sorry about that. NOT) you would think that he had been a fullfledged member of Heinrich Himmler's SS.
As it turns out, this is what has been reported about this experiencwrote based upon his book, "The Salt of The Earth:"
"In 1941, Ratzinger, 14, and his brother, Georg were enrolled in the Hitler Youth when it became mandatory for all boys. Soon after, he writes in his book, "The Salt of the Earth," he was let out because of his intention to study for the priesthood."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/04/19/international/i121336D98
I don't know how long he "served" in the Hitler Youth Corps, but his having been released due to his intentions of studying for the priesthood, should (but don't hold your breath) put to rest any question about his loyalties for the Third Reich and Hitler.
"Yes, he's had plenty of time to reflect. Makes a big difference!"
I don't think it took him very long. Defeat has a way of making one refect.
Each time I have been to Germany, I have met men of that generation who have taken it upon themselves to offer an apology for their "history".
With the expansion of worldwide and constant news sources (CNN, Fox News, etc.) and the internet, people are far more informed today than ever. During prior conclaves, very few non-Italian Catholics even knew the names of the Cardinals who were likely to become Pope, in 1978 NOBODY knew anything about the future John Paul II. All of that is different now, John Paul's health problems were well known and as a result, the left has had a long time to prepare "talking points" on every Cardinal. What we are seeing now is simply the execution of a plan that has been in the works for years.
Over the course of the past year, Ed Koch has impressed me as a man of great integrity who is not afraid to sacrifice his political stature within his party to follow his conscience.
Like the rest of the Libs, he can be off the wall, but at least, he doesn't walk in lockstep.
I think a German pope will instill a moral compass in that country like it did in Poland
"Actually, Poland was very Catholic prior to JP2's elevation but has since dramatically slidden downhill with increased abortion, divorce, contraception, you-name-it, and plenty of homo-molestation scandals"
I did not mean to say that Poland became more catholic.
I meant to say that there was a nationalistic effect that gave the people a sense of direction and a sense of right and wrong - as opposed to leftist , socialist, relativist, nihilist meandering.
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