[BlackRazor]

However, he was young and impressionable during a horrible time and never committed any war crimes. I think he deserves to be given a chance.

Of course he does. He was 14 years old at the time and living in Nazi Germany. Enrolling in the Hitler Youth was mandatory. Reportedly, Ratzinger never attended any of the group's meetings. His parents were noted anti-Nazi activists. After Ratzinger was drafted into the Nazi military, he deserted -- that being a crime punishable by execution. I'd be puzzled by any objective individual who might think Ratzinger wouldn't deserve to be "given a chance". I don't see what he could have done any differently.

[Liz]

wagglebee nails it: "The Pope was a victim of Hitler just like many other Germans....he was not a war criminal, he was not a Nazi..... "The Pope was not a supporter of Hitler, he was a 14 year-old victim of Hitler."

I hope and pray one that one of the items on Pope Benedict XV1's agenda---as the first German Pope in a 1000 years--- is to address the suffering and injustices German citizens experienced at the hands of the beastial Hitler and his Nazi juggernaut.

There are many firsthand accounts out there of working-class Germans sent to concentration camps because they would not kowtow to Nazism. Their families never saw or heard from them again; they simply disappeared, victims of the relentless onslaught of Hitler's killing machine.

This issue must be addressed.