Pope Benedict XVI

[Dennis1209]

I see that Pope Benedict XVI passed away at the age of 95. His legacy is intriguing; Popes die in office. He was not in ill health but decided to retire.

[David1701]

1 minute ago, Dennis1209 said:

I see that Pope Benedict XVI passed away at the age of 95. His legacy is intriguing; Popes die in office. He was not in ill health but decided to retire.

If I recall correctly, he had said that he lacked pastoral ability, which is not surprising, since was the head of the "Holy Office", before becoming the so-called "Pope".  The "Holy Office" used to be called "The Inquisition".  He also used to be a member of the Hitler Youth.

[teddyv]

1 hour ago, David1701 said:

He also used to be a member of the Hitler Youth.

I'm not sure why this is relevant. All youth were legally required to be part of the Hitler Youth from 1939 onward.

You were almost tripping over yourself in the Calvinist thread defending Calvin from half-truths and lies and acknowledging his place in a particular cultural period.

 

[David1701]

54 minutes ago, teddyv said:

I'm not sure why this is relevant. All youth were legally required to be part of the Hitler Youth from 1939 onward.

You were almost tripping over yourself in the Calvinist thread defending Calvin from half-truths and lies and acknowledging his place in a particular cultural period.

 

I was not "almost tripping over myself", in spite of your gratuitous insult.

Perhaps you didn't realise this, but there was a German resistance, whose conscience would not allow them to become Nazis. 

Naziism was also not merely of its time; in fact, most countries opposed it vehemently. 

Did Benedict ever repent of being a Nazi?  It's certainly true that many of the RC hierarchy supported Naziism, as evidenced by the many pictures of them giving the Nazi salute.  Then there's the concordat with Hitler.

Edited December 31, 2022 by David1701

[ayin jade]

The Lord knows the heart but it does seem that he repented of it, according to actions and words. 

 

From jewish virtual library ...

When Ratzinger turned 14 in 1941, as required by law he joined the Hitler Youth. According to his biographer John Allen he was not an enthusiastic member. He requested to be taken off the rolls and reportedly refused to attend a single meeting.

(snip)

He praised a landmark document of the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council, recalling that it urged greater understanding and esteem between Christians and Jews and that it “deplored all manifestations of hatred, persecution and anti-Semitism.”

(snip)

 

Ratzinger's membership in the Hitler Youth has raised eyebrows in the Jewish community, but he explained that membership was compulsory in his 1997 book Salt of the Earth:

“At first we weren't,” he says, speaking of himself and his older brother. “But when the compulsory Hitler Youth was introduced in 1941, my brother was obliged to join. I was still too young, but later as a seminarian I was registered in the Hitler Youth. As soon as I was out of the seminary, I never went back. And that was difficult because the tuition reduction, which I really needed, was tied to proof of attendance at the Hitler Youth.”

Ratzinger wrote that he was helped by a mathematics professor. “He himself was a Nazi, but an honest man, and said to me, ‘Just go once to get the document so we have it...’ When he saw that I simply didn't want to, he said, ‘I understand, I'll take care of it’ and so I was able to stay free of it.”

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/pope-benedict-xvi-joseph-alois-ratzinger

 

[David1701]

3 minutes ago, ayin jade said:

The Lord knows the heart but it does seem that he repented of it, according to actions and words. 

 

From jewish virtual library ...

When Ratzinger turned 14 in 1941, as required by law he joined the Hitler Youth. According to his biographer John Allen he was not an enthusiastic member. He requested to be taken off the rolls and reportedly refused to attend a single meeting.

(snip)

He praised a landmark document of the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council, recalling that it urged greater understanding and esteem between Christians and Jews and that it “deplored all manifestations of hatred, persecution and anti-Semitism.”

(snip)

 

Ratzinger's membership in the Hitler Youth has raised eyebrows in the Jewish community, but he explained that membership was compulsory in his 1997 book Salt of the Earth:

“At first we weren't,” he says, speaking of himself and his older brother. “But when the compulsory Hitler Youth was introduced in 1941, my brother was obliged to join. I was still too young, but later as a seminarian I was registered in the Hitler Youth. As soon as I was out of the seminary, I never went back. And that was difficult because the tuition reduction, which I really needed, was tied to proof of attendance at the Hitler Youth.”

Ratzinger wrote that he was helped by a mathematics professor. “He himself was a Nazi, but an honest man, and said to me, ‘Just go once to get the document so we have it...’ When he saw that I simply didn't want to, he said, ‘I understand, I'll take care of it’ and so I was able to stay free of it.”

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/pope-benedict-xvi-joseph-alois-ratzinger

 

And we trust Ratzinger's testimony because...?  The office of "Pope" is the anti-Christ.  You don't get to that office, unless you are evil through and through.

[Dave-regenerated]

Pardon me for saying this, but every picture I have seen of him makes me say he is creepy looking.

[Alive]

25 minutes ago, David1701 said:

And we trust Ratzinger's testimony because...?  The office of "Pope" is the anti-Christ.  You don't get to that office, unless you are evil through and through.

I do not know if its the office of the anti Christ, but he could have prevented that huge statue of Molech being placed in the Vatican for all to see.

[Jayne]

I don't believe in the office of the Pope.

However, when Pope Benedict was a child,  his father was very anti-Nazi.  And it cost him in his business.

Pope Benedict, then as Joseph Ratzinger, was also anti-Nazi as a youth.  Why?  I suppose because his father was, but also I've read this morning because his cousin who had Down's Syndrome was murdered by the Nazis and their horrid eugenics.

He was conscripted into Hitler's Youth, not a willing joiner.  He refused to attend meetings. He was also drafted into the war.

He was not the "card-carrying goose-stepper" that some here are making him out to be.

Was he even a Christian?  I don't know. But because he was born in Germany during the reign of Hitler and demonic company does not make him a Nazi.

I'm not defending him as a Catholic or a pope, but let's don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.  It's not an honest thing to do.

[Neighbor]

https://www.jcrelations.net/articles/article/abraham-joshua-heschel-and-nostra-aetate.html

 

 

 Please if interested see a history of Rabbi Abraham Heschel, who when spoke to and influenced the bishops of the Roman Catholic church  which  so  convicted them  a doctorate was written and adopted by the RCC denouncing anti-semitism.

PBS just reran a biographical presentation on Rabbi Heschel 

https://www.pbs.org/video/spiritual-audacity-the-abraham-joshua-heschel-story-i3ptfo/ 

plus; 

OCTOBER 27, 2014 ISSUEInterfaith Affinity: The shared vision of Rabbi Heschel and Pope Francis

https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/interfaith-affinity