New Pope: former Nazi

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger — a favorite to become the next pontiff — joined the Nazi children's corps in 1941 as a 14-year-old and was later an anti-aircraft gunner.

At one point, he guarded a factory where slaves from a concentration camp were forced to work. He was later shipped to Hungary, where he reportedly saw Jews persecuted.

Ratzinger, a staunch conservative dubbed "God's Rottweiler," has said he joined the Hitler Youth when membership became compulsory. He and his brother were later drafted but deserted. The cardinal claims he never fired a shot and that resistance would have meant death.

Not so, Germans from his hometown of Traunstein told The Times of London.

"It was possible to resist, and those people set an example for others," recalled Elizabeth Lohner, 84. "The Ratzingers were young — and they had made a different choice."


http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/42823.htm

Ouch. A German ex-Nazi Pope? I think the world is coming to an end.

Seeing as how the world of the west is going down a decidedly neo-con path, and the new pope is a former Nazi (and a hard-line conservative), and my own American government panders strongly to the bible-belt constituency... here is an excerpt from an inspirational speech that seems apropos:

"The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press -- in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of LIBERAL excess during the past years."

-- Adolph Hitler; Taken from The Speeches of Adolph Hitler, 1922-1939, Vol. 1, Michael Hakeem, Ph.D. (London, Oxford University Press, 1942), pp. 871-872.

That article looked unbalanced to say the least. Well it is the New York Post after all. How about this one from The Advocate, a gay publication that definitely has no reason to like him.

You should see what I found while searching his name online:

http://www.catholicplanet.com/articles/article41.htm

I am not a Catholic, a Christian, religious, or have a need to defend the new Pope or the Catholic Church, but I am one that questions what people say, even if it was published in the front page of the Chicago Tribune, shown in a 'documentary' or on CNN.



What is so unfortunate is that the majority of people blindly trust what TV, Radio, Newspapers and others may tell them. That is one of the reasons why the world is so screwed up. Radicals from the left and the right depend on it.


The Jerusalem Post Online. April 19th Front Page Headline.

"New pope hailed for strong Jewish ties"

"The choice of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the new pope on Tuesday, Jewish religious leaders say, is a sign that the warming ties initiated by Pope John Paul II between the Vatican and Jews will continue."

The article has much to say on Ratzinger's open disclosure of his "service" during the Nazi years and the positive opinions Jewish religious leaders have of him.

Jerusalem Post

Make your own conclusions.

T

A former nazi pope? What were they thinking, how can he be expected to minister to the Jewish members of his faith?



Oh, wait....never mind.........

Oh what fools these mortals be!

The lengths that whacky vatican will go to outdo the 'Polish Pope' line!

Here at work I noticed there was a lot of things publisised that he was AGAINST...
Which can only make me wonder at the things he was FOR if that was the most upbeat they could say for the occasion...

We should try and compile that list - it will be fun... I'll start:

FOR the extension of slavery to everyone that doesn't know latin...
FOR diversification in the church, by making the 'body of christ' available in 'savory'

Siggy.

There is no source of information without an agenda. News is written by human beings, not machines. It is not just "radicals" that depend on spin. It's me, it's you.



Ok. I'll play that game. How's this for "balance?": www.ratzingerfanclub.com/Ratzinger_faq.html (get Google's cache if traffic shuts the site down, just Google: Ratzinger Nazi)

"Was Cardinal Ratzinger a Nazi?

Good grief. No, Virginia, Cardinal Ratzinger was not a Nazi.
The Ratzinger Fan Club normally doesn't indulge in the muck and mire of such rumors, but you'd be suprised how many people write inquiring about this malicious rumor.
The story that Ratzinger was a member of the Hitler Youth is true. It's a biographical fact that seems to have circulated on many a mailing list, and seems to surface at precisely opportune times when the Prefect finds himself in the media's spotlight. From the way it has been presented, one might assume this is one of those skeletons the Cardinal keeps tucked away in his closet (next to his executioner's axe and the token heads of Hans Kung, Matthew Fox, Leonardo Boff & Charles Curran).
The truth is that as Ratzinger mentions himself in Milestones: Memoirs: 1927 - 1977, he and his brother George were both enrolled in the Hitler Youth (at a time when membership was compulsory), and discusses family life under the Third Reich in chapters 2-4 of his autobiography. "
The truth is that as Ratzinger mentions himself in Milestones: Memoirs: 1927 - 1977, he and his brother George were both enrolled in the Hitler Youth (at a time when membership was compulsory), and discusses family life under the Third Reich in chapters 2-4 of his autobiography."

-- I love how they go from "Good grief...Cardinal Ratzinger was not a Nazi" to "The story that Ratzinger was a member of the Hitler Youth is true" in the next paragraph. Ah, but these are obviously just more lies generated by a fake fan-site set up by those crafty homosexual liberals to pretend to like Ratzinger but then lie about the contents of his autobiography.

I like that line from the advocate quoting the new Pope who claims to be a simple humble worker.

I don't want to bring my own personal views into an argument with anyone, but if it's worth anything: if he was a truly simple humble servant of the christian faith, he wouldn't be wearing clothes worth more than my life and sleeping a giant bed of silk and velvet. He'd be out there serving his people, washing their feet, and ailing them of their fears and woes.

He even took the name Benedict to fullfill the Malachy prophecies.

Not like it's open for contest, but say hello to the new pope.

apparently a man of false humility.

I'm unsure what any of this is supposed to demonstrate.
He joined an organization which was compusory.
He saw Jews -- perhaps my relatives -- being persecuted, which doesn't mean he was in particular agreement with what he was witnessing.
I see nothing in this story which says he was a member of the nazi party, as contrasted to being drafted into a german military uniformed service.

Given the intensity of political indoctrination at that time and place, I actually find it rather remarkable that someone who would have been 6 years old at Hitler's rise to power, and 18 by the war's end would have made the decision to become a Catholic minister. One might reasonably take that decision as a response to all of the things which today identifies him as an "ex-Nazi".

"What is the sun's labor? The sun's labor is, primarily, to circle around the earth."

Wait, SAY WHAT? I actually did a double take when I read that. You're taking information from a site that thinks that the SUN TRAVELS AROUN THE EARTH?! WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR EFFING MIND?

Irony.

Not a word I normally equate with the New York Post.
In not atypical fashion, they're exploiting a brutal, tragic piece of living memory which represents pain to millions of people, and using it for their own brand of mass media drahma, based on the innuendo of half-stated facts.
I find it disgustingly mercenary of them.

Ow! My sides hurt now. That's the funniest thing I've read in a while

The man is 78 years old. He joined the Hitler Youth at age 14. He was only 18 when the war was over. He is 78 now.

Conservative Catholics are what they are. He is no different in that respect. However, I do think it is unfair to call him a Nazi.

All this comes a suprise - why?

Look at former Popes and you'll see MUCH worse than this man - and yes I'm a catholic.

The genocide of the Inca race was sanctioned by?
The Spanish Inquisition was sanctioned by?

Just two obvious examples.



The man was a member of the Nazi party therefore he WAS a Nazi but then again so was Oskar Schindler so who's to judge? One thing however is certain - you wont be hearing the truth behind it from the vatican.

I'm disapointed in the choice, but I really didn't expect anything other than another hardliner.

As for the Nazi stuff, I would imagine a 14 year old in Germany at that time would find it nearly impossible not to be involved.

Nobody seems bothered that he is 78 years old. How long can we expect a man of that age to last being the leader of a church with over a billion people? From what I've read about him, he ain't no guy that will step back and let others to do the work.

By your standards, my girlfriend's grandfather was also a Nazi.
Even though he was Austrian, when Austria was annexed by Germany its people was forced to fight for Hitler.
He was even captured by the Russians.
My girlfriend's mother still has her little passport thingy with the names of her ancestors up to the 5th generation, proving they are not of jewish ascent.
If you're going to label everyone remotely linked to Hitler a Nazi, then maybe you should use the same "5th generation" criterion, which would make my children and grandchildren Nazis as well!

It is easy to not be a NAZI when Hitler isnt around.

I've not seen this reported in the news anywhere. Can you cite your source for us?

The catholic priest, Mr. V., who held our wedding ceremony was one Jewish German catholic and a personal friend and supporter of Mr. Razinger. During WW2 he was on train to Ausschwitz, but jumped from the train and ran. He was hidden from the Nazis by the catholic church, which is when he converted and decided to become a priest.

So, yes, I can personally attest that at least one Jewish member of his faith is very happy with Mr. Razinger

Btw, I have German passport now. Do I also qualify to be Nazi?

Heil Anshe!

Well, not being a Catholic/Christian I simply cannot answer why there is a need for a leader of 'any' religion! Religion is a faith of an 'individual' and should be kept that way...not have another 'human being' trying to brainwash you on believeing what he/she thinks is the 'one and only' religion.

Being Pagan I come accross many people that think I am a 'satan' worshipper...well to tell you the truth I don't even believe in the 'hot guy'...lmao! I do, however, believe in 'evil' which lately is all around us.

SL has a few rather eccentric groups in game that are involved in some various forms of 'religion'...there are a few Pagan groups also (none of which I belong to, at least not yet). So when searching out that new religion tread lightly, but do carry a big stick!

Paganism is not really a hard religion to adjust to, mostly being an earth-based one like Judism, Budhism and the like. We believe in a god 'and' a goddess...it takes 'two' to tango you know...lol.

I have heard some people say that the 'goat' is our, well, mascot...but at least the 'goat' can venture out 'alone' and not have a whole congregation following it. Unlike the 'sheep' who never walks alone, or even has a thought or answer that doesn't start with 'psalms 4:32, etc'....if you know what I mean.

No, I am not putting anyone down...I just want you all to know that 'variety is the spice of life', and we are all 'human beings'...no matter who or 'what' we worship!

Hopefully I didn't offend anyone...and if I did please accept my sincere appologies!

Hugs to all,
SeXXXy Bliss