Joseph Ratzinger is he sinister....
Is he left-handed ? I don't really know.
Right handed by the looks of it.
The Catholic Church had a lot of dark days and associations during the second world war.
Indeed they did, millions of Catholics died at the hands of the Nazis.
Agreed he probably didn't have much choice about the Hitlerjugend.
Did I hear today that he actually deserted from the German Army before being captured by the allies.
And if anyone is interested in the Church's resistance (or at least of some parts of it), to the German authorities during the war, then try reading up about Dietrich Bonhoeffer.... while most of the Church in Germany "sat on its hands" or refused to condemn Hitler, I believe.
Oh a wiki link.
If you're having to use a wiki link to point out your bias you lose.
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The Jews appreciated the efforts of many Catholics during WW2, including the Pope.
Thats a bit rich when you haven't offered any evidence. Truly you are the Glenn-Murray of catholic apologists.
In 2001 New York Rabbi David Dalin has proposed that Pope Pius XII be proclaimed "Righteous Among the Nations," the highest award given by the state of Israel to persons outstanding in assisting persecuted Jews during World War II: "More than any other 20th century leader, Pius XII fulfilled this Talmudic tradition, when the fate of European Jewry was at stake. No other Pope had been so widely praised by Jews, and they were not mistaken. Their gratitutde, as well as that of the entire generation of holocaust survivors, testifies that Pius XII was, genuinely and profoundly, a righteous gentile.... Pius XII was not Hitler's pope, but the closest Jews had come to having a papal supporter, and at the moment when it mattered most."
Jeno Levai, who testified at the Eichmann Nazi War Crimes Trial, insisted: "The one person [Pope Pius XII] who did more than anyone else to halt the dreadful crime and alleviate its consequences, is today made the scapegoat for the failures of others"
Indeed they did, millions of Catholics died at the hands of the Nazis.
I'm not trying to be contentious here, but the Church's complicity in refusing to denounce the events of the early 40's (and it's involvement in these events) is beyond despicable, regardless of the suffering, or the good done by many of it's members at the same time.
To avoid this is not cool.
Having said that I haven't got a problem with what Ratzinger did when he was a kid. I do have a problem with many of his actions as a grown man.