Pope Benedict XVI continues to defy the world. This man may actually believe that he himself is infallible. The fact that he intends to make a saint out of Hitler's Pope, Pius XII, surely should be enough evidence to support that delusion. But now there is more.Earlier today Andrea Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, demanded that the Pope make clear that he rejects the Holocaust denial of Bishop Richard Williamson.
JP reported, "German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Pope Benedict XVI to make a 'very clear' rejection of Holocaust denials after a former bishop was rehabilitated by the Vatican."
Remember this -- Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany.
The Pope's support for a Holocaust denier is tantamount to abetting a crime. The Chancellor was asking the Pope to make it clear that he did not abet a crime. The Pope has refused.
This situation has now escalated from a serious scandal to a crisis of international proportions.
The Vatican has decided to dig in its heels and resist diplomatic demands. Apparently the Pope believes that he has sufficient power to act with impunity in the face of the international community.
Only the Lord knows what will happen next.
Vatican tells Merkel: Pope clear on HolocaustThere's much dismay over the Pope in Germany today. Reuter's Faithworld reports:
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican on Tuesday hit back at German Chancellor Angela Merkel after she called on Pope Benedict to make clear the Vatican does not tolerate any denial of the Holocaust.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement that the German pope's position on the Holocaust and Holocaust denial "could not be any clearer."
Merkel made her comments after an outcry over a decision by the pope to rehabilitate four traditional Catholic bishops, including one who denies the full extent of the Holocaust.
...it’s rare to see such a wide variety of opinion lining up in Rome and in other countries against a pontiff. It is almost unthinkable that a head of government should break with protocol and openly criticise a pope. But when a German pope ignores one of the deepest German taboos, getting a reaction like this is — as they say here in Germany — “as certain as hearing ‘Amen’ in church.”While only the Lord knows for sure, Tzvee predicts that the Pope will resign over this scandal.
To wit, Cardinal Ratzinger should never have been elected Pope to begin with.
No matter how long ago it was that he served the devil regime of Nazi Germany, a Hitler Youth and soldier in the Nazi army should never have had the chutzpah to present himself to represent a worldwide religion of peace and love.
The Catholic Church has to realize at last that it cannot defy history and morality for some sort of bizarre and irrational expediency. There are thousands of equally qualified Catholics, who have never served the devil, who can serve as the holy Pope.
This chapter of Vatican history will be recorded as a low-point of Church politics, close in decadence to that of the reign of Hitler's Pope himself, Pius XII during the Nazi era, who undeniably abetted by his acquiescence, the greatest crime ever perpetrated against humanity.
According to CNN, the Pope has clearly affirmed the existence of the Holocause. In his book Jesus, which is brilliant, he has a very sensitive relationship to Judasiam, including a respectful dialogue with Neusner. As for serving in the Hitler Youth and the Army, there was no choice then. Hitler Youth moved its meetings to Sunday mornings to openly compete with Church, and they would kidnap and beat youth who chose to go to church instead. And as for the army, some of the most vocal critics of Hitler, including members of the White Rose, still went and fought on the front. They had no choice. Reality is far more complex.
ReplyDeleteAt Huff Post, Victor Simpson reminds us:
ReplyDeleteThe first blow up of Benedict's papacy came in 2006 when the pope's remarks on Islam and holy war in a speech in his native Germany angered much of the Muslim world, leading him to backtrack and declare himself "deeply sorry."
"I think this pope consults very little," said Marco Politi, a biographer of Pope John Paul II. "In three years he has succeeded in creating strains with two of the world's leading religions. It raises the question about the governance of the universal church."