Posted on 04/19/2005 9:52:18 AM PDT by Alouette
London's Sunday Times would have us believe that one of the leading contenders for the papacy is a closet Nazi. In if-only-they-knew tones, the newspaper informs readers that German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was a member of the Hitler Youth during World War II and suggests that, because of this, the "panzer cardinal" would be quite a contrast to his predecessor, John Paul II.
The article also classifies Ratzinger as a "theological anti-Semite" for believing in Jesus so strongly that – gasp! – he thinks that everyone, even Jews, should accept him as the messiah.
To all this we should say, "This is news?!" As the Sunday Times article admits, Ratzinger's membership in the Hitler Youth was not voluntary but compulsory; also admitted are the facts that the cardinal – only a teenager during the period in question – was the son of an anti-Nazi policeman, that he was given a dispensation from Hitler Youth activities because of his religious studies, and that he deserted the German army.
Ratzinger has several times gone on record on his supposedly "problematic" past. In the 1997 book Salt of the Earth, Ratzinger is asked whether he was ever in the Hitler Youth.
"At first we weren't," he says, speaking of himself and his older brother, "but when the compulsory Hitler Youth was introduced in 1941, my brother was obliged to join. I was still too young, but later as a seminarian, I was registered in the Hitler Youth. As soon as I was out of the seminary, I never went back. And that was difficult because the tuition reduction, which I really needed, was tied to proof of attendance at the Hitler Youth.
"Thank goodness there was a very understanding mathematics professor. He himself was a Nazi, but an honest man, and said to me, 'Just go once to get the document so we have it...' When he saw that I simply didn't want to, he said, 'I understand, I'll take care of it' and so I was able to stay free of it."
Ratzinger says this again in his own memoirs, printed in 1998. In his 2002 biography of the cardinal, John Allen, Jr. of the National Catholic Reporter wrote in detail about those events.
The only significant complaint that the Times makes against Ratzinger's wartime conduct is that he resisted quietly and passively, rather than having done something drastic enough to earn him a trip to a concentration camp. Of course, whenever it is said that a German failed the exceptional-resistance-to-the-Nazis test, it would behoove us all to recognize that too many Jews failed it, as well.
If he were truly a Nazi sympathizer, then it would undoubtedly have become evident during the past 60 years. Yet throughout his service in the church, Ratzinger has distinguished himself in the field of Jewish-Catholic relations.
As prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger played an instrumental role in the Vatican's revolutionary reconciliation with the Jews under John Paul II. He personally prepared Memory and Reconciliation, the 2000 document outlining the church's historical "errors" in its treatment of Jews. And as president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Ratzinger oversaw the preparation of The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, a milestone theological explanation for the Jews' rejection of Jesus.
If that's theological anti-Semitism, then we should only be so lucky to "suffer" more of the same.
As for the Hitler Youth issue, not even Yad Vashem has considered it worthy of further investigation. Why should we?
So he says that only members of the RCC have eternal life?
Earlier post on this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1386748/posts?page=93#93
Hannity confirmed that he was drafted into Hitler Youth, and that he was in the air defense, but that he deserted them, and that his family hated the nazis.
How many times do I have to tell people? I was doing a quick scan. It was a quote. The quote was accurate.
I was just doing a quick scan. I mentioned it several times on this thread.
"what all Jews think now" I said frictions with the Jewish community BTW. You put words in my mouth. ALL. Where did I say that?
Keep in mind ya'll, that his birth name now is not the proper way to address him, he is now Benedict XVI. That will take getting used to because been used to my whole life referring to "John Paul our Pope" in the Eurcharistic prayer at mass. At least as far as his birth name, its a lot less likely for me to botch than Wojltoa, or however John Paul II's last name was spelled (Polish names really get me stumped)..
The character assassination from the evil left begins. I wish the maw of hell would open and swallow them all up.
The point is that this story of Ratzinger Hitler Youth Days is a cheap attack on a morally authoritative pope. He did nothing terrible while being forcefully drafted either to Hitler Youth or Wermacht. He deserted Wermacht and it was his personal contribution to the allied victory over Hitler.
I'm sure Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) will be a great pope who will further raise the authority of Catholic Church to the detriment of leftists around the world. He certainly got a lot of work ahead. I think he need urgently to address the issue of pedophiles in the priesthood and move forcefully to minimize the risk of sexual predators becoming priests. There are plenty of other tasks ahead for Catholic Church. We should all wish the new Pope well, whether we are Catholics or not. It's in everybody's interest that the oldest Christian Church will become a full moral force for good around the world (incl. in largely post-Christian neo-pagan Europe).
Thank you John Paul for setting the stage.....God is truely with us.....
"The point is that this story of Ratzinger Hitler Youth Days is a cheap attack on a morally authoritative pope."
I'm inclined to believe you because the Cardinals know better than to choose an easy target. But regardless, we need to be armed with knowedge. And so I'm using my little pea-brain here, not rising to the level of bad google scanning, and getting smacked around by my fellow freepers. Maybe I deserve it. But I'm grumpy too, for personal reasons.
--FReegards....
Related link:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1386890/posts
Pope Recalls Being German POW
Too many facts to confuse our liberal media gurus.
Good job, ma'am. I'm glad to see the record set straight.
Lang lebe Papst BEnedict XVI!
ping
You said:
The rabbis are having a lot of trouble with that already.
"Already" suggests "recently" as in "since being elected Pope."
Then you offer as "proof" a blog article from five years ago which you found through a casual Google search.
There is no evidence that The rabbis are having a lot of trouble already.
Now look here, uh er.. uh ... eh... [Walking off muttering to self]
Yeah, I'm sorry. Hope you have a great night. Related link: he escaped from the Hitler Youth group, risking his life to do so:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1386890/posts
Pope Recalls Being German POW HE ESCAPED
I think you left out a large train-load of protestants.
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