Ed Koch: The New Pope and Anti-Semitism

NewsMax ^ | 4/19/05 | Ed Koch

[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.

[billorites]

My piano tuner was in the Hitler youth.

It's a riot to hear him talk of it.

He's more rabid a Reaganite than I.

[KosmicKitty]

Pope John Paul II visited a Roman synagogue – the first pope to do so

Forgive my ignorance, but ....

If St Peter is considered the first pope, and he was jewish, wouldn't he have also gone to a synagogue, thereby making the above statement incorrect.

Just wondering

[wagglebee]

I have wondered the same thing (also St. Peter's immediate successors), it is possible that the Romans did not allow any synagogues in Rome, but I have no idea. Regardless, John Paul II was certainly the only Pope since the earliest days of Christianity to visit one.

[Bogie]

Yes, me too. But, there was a lot mere than a simple military defeat involved in the reflection. If you get a chance read some of the Nobel Prize author Heinrich Boll.He deals with how people can let their minds be controlled by a sort of "group think" which, of course, in his case, was the Nazi leadership.

[Cicero]

At the time the Pope visited Israel, Ratzinger wrote some important documents on Catholic-Jewish relations. The MSM dismissed his comments at the time as mere "theology," but that was typical MSM stupidity and blindness to religion. In the end, Catholic-Jewish relations will rest upon theology, not diplomatic niceties, and Ratzinger's position was very much pro-Jewish.

I can't put my hands on his statement at the moment, but there's absolutely no question that Benedict XVI will continue PJP II's efforts to improve relations with the Jews and clear up any lingering antisemitism among Catholics. And it won't just be empty PR or diplomatic mouthings. It's solid theological reasoning that will become the basis of the Church's future relations with the Jews.

[wingman1]

"...there was a lot mere than a simple military defeat involved in the reflection..."

Sometimes I wonder.

[Bogie]

Well, certainly the defeat put a stop to the propaganda machine. Hard to think with all that pollution in your ears.

Yes, you're right! First things first.

[Alouette]

Catholic-Jewish relations will rest upon theology, not diplomatic niceties, and Ratzinger's position was very much pro-Jewish.

Catholics and Jews should be cordial and respect each other without abolishing or changing their deeply-held and most sacred beliefs. This means that Christians should not blame all Jews as "Christ killers" but also that Jews should not try to force Christians to deny that Christ is the only means of salvation.

As far as arguing over "who goes to hell" for believing or not believing this or that, that not up to us to decide.

I hope that Pope Benedict XVI will lead his people on the right path.

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel ping list.

WARNING: This is a high volume ping list

[wideawake]

it is possible that the Romans did not allow any synagogues in Rome, but I have no idea

The synagogue John Paul II visited was in Rome. There have been synagogues in Rome continuously for 2000 years, probably longer.

[wingman1]

Thankfully, things (The master race getting its _ss kicked) worked out as they did. If not, I doubt today's apologies from the Germans would be forthcoming. Human nature and all.

Mr. Boll may have been a different story - all who have tasted war first hand look at things differently. He would be the exception - even in the best of circumstances.

[wideawake]

Thank you.

I will quote from an official document that Pope Benedict XVI published in 2002 in his official capacity as head of the Pontifical Biblical Commission:

"An attitude of respect, esteem and love for the Jewish people is the only truly Christian attitude in a situation[i.e. the disagreement between Christians and Jews as to Jesus' status as Messiah]which is mysteriously part of the beneficent and positive plan of God."

That's from The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible.

In the same document he quotes approvingly John Paul II's characterization of the Jews as Catholics' "elder brothers".

[Campion]

Yes, he's had plenty of time to reflect. Makes a big difference!

Reflect on what? His parents were anti-Nazis, he was anti-Nazi. He was forced to join the Hitler Youth or drop out of the seminary; he attended one meeting to satisfy the local Nazi party leadership. He was drafted into the German army and deserted his post in the closing weeks of the war, thus risking being shot by any SS man who happened to find him. He was then picked up by the Americans as a POW and put in a cage outdoors for a couple of months.

I don't see that he has much to reflect on, or be sorry about.

I know I wasn't brave enough at 18 to risk being shot as a deserter, whether from Hitler's army or any other. Were you?

Something I haven't seen mentioned yet. The Pope had a cousin who had Down's Syndrome, and was murdered by the Nazis. He is literally a relative of a victim of the Holocaust.

Reflect, you say?

[onedoug]

TFTF,A.

Deuteronmy 4:19 and Malachi 1:11.

"...For they all aim to Thee to come." --Solomon ibn Gabirol, Middle Ages synagogue hymn-writer

[Alouette]

THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THEIR SACRED SCRIPTURES IN THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE

[Bogie]

Geeezzz Champion, I was talking about the uncle of wingman1's wife.

[wingman1]

Bogie was responding to my making mention of my wife's uncle regarding "time to reflect".

It was not until a later message that he mentioned Mr. Boll.

Please reread the thread.

[1st-P-In-The-Pod]

I couldn't agree more with your statements. Thanks for the heads up.

[claudiustg]

---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.---

Missouri Lutherans.

[FreeReporting]

http://www.teachkidspeace.com/friend.php

[American in Israel]

This means that Christians should not blame all Jews as "Christ killers" but also that Jews should not try to force Christians to deny that Christ is the only means of salvation.

You know Alouette, I have been a Christian for over 30 years in many congregations and have never met a single Christian that blames the Jews as "Christ Killers".

Not one.

There seems to be a perception error showing here.

Blessings...