Pope Benedict decision might further irritate Jews

Please read the diaries of Goebbels and Ciano.

They reveal the hostility of the fascist regimes to Pope Pius, their anger at his efforts to stymie them, and their efforst to undermine him, and with the Germans, the intentions to destroy the church if they won the war.

So? Some Jews will be irritated? There is hard evidence that the calumnies against Pius XII began with the Soviet KGB. After this there was a sea change. Why? Could it be that the enemies of the Church and those with anti-Church agendas for theological reasons or motives of revenge, or political reasons saw the opportunity to use the Pius XII issue as cover to put pressure on the Church and work against her in society according to their anti-Church agendas? Even within the Jewish community there has been criticism of a "Holcaust industry." Some Jews will always be irritated no matter what the Pope does or does not do. May the Lord protect and guide the Pope and not deliver him up to the will of his enemies.

How hypocritical and twisted this pope is!
He refuses to enter the Holocaust museum because of what it says about the pope the Vatican wanted to make a saint of i.e. Pius XII; yet they turned around and canonized an even more anti-Semitic pope, Pius IX!

Papa Ratzi then distorts history by writing “Sometimes one has the impression that our society needs at least one group for which it has absolutely no tolerance, a group which it can hate with a clean conscience,” he wrote. “Then when someone dares to come close to that group – in this case, the pope – he too loses his right to tolerance, and he too can be treated with hate without any fear or reservation.”

Who is he trying to kid? Society does indeed have at least one group to hate and ostracize at a time: it used to be the Jews, then the blacks; now it's the gays! How dare he be so anxious to accommodate a small number of hateful racists, misogynes, homophobes and fascist pigs while at the same time perpetuating the blatant discrimination against women and the poor.

The pope also chided Catholics who criticized his move: “I’ve been saddened by the fact that even some Catholics, who ought to know how things stand, instead have struck at me with a kind of aggressive hostility,” the pope wrote.

Now he's whining because this hate and fearmongering is hitting right back across the head. He has only himself to blame because he brought it all upon him. He has obviously reached his "Peter principle" or level of incompetence.
If he had one once of humility and love for both Jesus and the Church, he would resign at once and seek refuge in a desert monastery!

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/world/2009/03/11/D96RT0T80_eu_rel_vatican_...

This seems to be an article about where the Holy Father will not be visiting. What about the countries and locations he is visiting. Its actually very historic. Grace and peace with prayers always...

My question is this - when the Italian Jews of Rome were rounded up in 1938, within walking distance of the Vatican, where was Pope Pius XII efforts to stop that? Or even to condemn it?

As for Pope Benedict XVI, he speaks of the roots of Nazism as neo-pagan and conveniently does not confess the sins of the Catholic church in regard to it.

I find myself as someone who is Catholic but has Jewish relatives, friends and many roots, cut ever deeper by this.

My, my, here he goes again. When the late pope was touring Canada a number of years ago an official who helped with the organizing humourously remarked that the obvious love and humility exuded by the man, whether real or not, was played for the camera with an expertness born of his theatrical training.

Many attest to the benignity of Pope Benedict XVI, his inestimable intelligence and even he proclaims here his pastoraly fraternal innocence in reconciling the errant "hierarchy" (and of course 706 additional clergy and potential clergy). He appears humble, he has that manner but by his actions, past and present one has to wonder.
If he is so intelligent, how can he not perform a modicum of research into his own files, and memory and colleagues and not be aware of Williamson's on-going, reasonably world-wide reported and clear denunciation of the Holocaust? Innocent? Maybe, but not without in incontestable association with either stupidity, prevarication or incompetance.

He of all people, with his intelligence should be expected to understand and anticipate the obvious indirect as well as direct implications of his actions and words. No? In his position it simply goes with the territory. No excuse.

And then he moans to his brother Bishops about the insensitivity, lack of charity and "agressive hostility" of those, even Catholics, who called his actions for what they reasonably appeared to be in fact rather than in self-pronouncing and later in self-justification. Is there not evidence of pride masked as sadness.

To expect credible acceptance of his rationale for Pius XII failure to act as "Christ's representative on earth" during the Holocaust by citing that "He often acted secretely and in silence...to avoid the worst and save as many Jews Jews as possible" is lame. To snub his Jewish hosts rather than acknowledge,even indirectly,in humility, that other views are possible and, in the absence of sufficient evidence to the contrary, reasonable is inflamatory.

If doing the least harm by silence,by inaction is the preferred alternative, the greater good, the more Christ-like, in a complex situation with immense implications -why did he allow his Cardinal prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America to publicaly defend the public excommunication of the mother and doctors for aborting the rape-induced pregnancy of a nine-year old girl-child which would have killed her? Where is the good here?

The number of people outside the Roman Catholic Church as members of the Society of St Pius X pale to insignificance to the millions of women and men, married or single who are oppressed by the Roman Catholic Church. By denying this group of people the sacrament of ordination, the RCC has done a lot of spiritual damage. When will RCC wake up and realize that Jesus our Christ was inclusive not exclusive. One woman who no longer can call herself Roman Catholic and has found new life in the Ecumencial Catholic Church.

John,
Why are you writing articles like this? It is exactly this type of misleading caption that inflames and irritates the masses, as well as put the Holy Father and the Church in a bad light. Couldn't you have just as easily said that the Holy Father, "Asks for respect for Pius XII"?

After reading several articles I believe that Pope Pius Xii did all that was possible to react to the Holocaust and not upset the German Regime so as to react further toward others. However, because Pope Benedict will not go into the museum, this will alter the tone and feelings for further dialogue and understanding. When one believes in the truth, it is possible to go forward without fear and with a mindset of openness,reconciliation and purpose. Others may analyze the Pope Pius situation as they may, but it does not affect one's own analysis -- behaviors are always interpreted differently and that time period was extremely tense and frought with complications and futility.

"The pope also chided Catholics who critized his move". Really, the pope ought to be glad that intelligent and thinking people in the Church offer constructive criticism about a questionable move. The fact that he and his staff do not consult the internet is amazing. Does he want to live in the modern world or not. The Pope admits that he did not adequately explain the reasons for removing the excommunication. Why not? Does he think he does not have to explain anything. Whining about the "hate" is an overreaction. I think "hate" is a strong word. It was more likely disappointment.

Oh, that Benedict et al. had done their homework and made the their disticntions and clarifications when the exommunications were lifted back in January. This whole affair is a case study in institutional communcation failure based on silo thinking (no relationship between SSPX and Judaism)and faulty assumptions about worldwide perceptions/understanding of the Pope and Catholic Church. Has the Vatican learned anything? Has the Vatican staff done a post-mortem on the whole affair? I am not hopeful.

As a Catholic convert with Jewish ancestry, I can no longer support this pope.
He is ecumenism's worst nightmare. His willingness to jeopardize the tremendous advances in Jewish-Catholic relations which were created and fostered by his three papal predecessors for the sake of reconciling a few thousand right wing extremists who still will not accept Vatican II is outrageous. If he had not been living in a bubble for the last fifty years, he would have known that Bishop Williamson has been making his Holocaust denying statements in public since 1988. I know, because I was living in the Diocese of Winona, Minnesota, at the time when Williamson was rector of the seminary there.

I applaud Pope Benedict XVI's stance concerning the Holocaust Museum. It is a deeply moving experience to go through it. I found the children's museum of extraordinary power in its simplicity. The only element that marred my visit was to read the quotation distorting Pius X's attitude towards the holocaust. It appears in one of the very first displays you see as you enter. There is so much more to see and absorb in this museum. Please God, the offensive words will be removed and the Pope can visit the museum and express his compassion for Christ in the Jewish people during WWII and now. This would do much to heal the painful tensions between the Jews and Roman Catholicism.

Sadly, Yad Vashem is used to bolster the Israeli sense of victimhood. Parties of schoolchildren are taken there, and given explanations of the exhibits. Soldiers are taken there as part of their training as well as to Masada where the 1st C AD Jews committed suicide rather than surrender to the invader.

Such a place of ritualised propaganda is no proper place for a guest to visit, and I'm glad the Pope will not traverse the museum. I think we must also remember that he is very old and a German who had some part in the Second World War. To expect him to plod round would be insensitive.

While Pius XII did the best that he could---considering the world situation, his advisors, and his own precarious position sitting in Italy (although Rome was shielded from major bombing by the Allies)---Benedict keeps stepping on people's toes.

Benedict really is trying to be his own advisor---and he doesn't pay much attention to Cardinal Walter Kasper. Benedict's advisors are not mentally as sharp as Benedict. But Benedict could (should) listen to those who have experience in foreign diplomacy---like Kasper, who has dealt for years with Jews and especially, the Israelis.

Benedict may have the best intentions----but his lack of foreign diplomatic skills turns his best intentions into major religious/social blunders. And Benedict isolates himself from those who criticize---instead of trying to learn from his mistakes. He may be theologically nimble---but when it comes to dealing with real flesh and blood people, their pained past, and their attempts to reach out to others now in the present----Benedict is like a bull in the china shop.

Despite the historical inaccuracies in the Yad Vashem statment on Pius XII, I think it would be better for the Holy Father to visit the Holocaust museum least not visiting fuel further Jewish misunderstandings.

Lifting the excommunications was the right thing to do but the reasons should have been better explained and the requirement that the SSPX agree to uphold Vatican II should have been very clearly stated. It looked like an agenda to undermine Vatican II was underway and I think that was behind the strong Catholic concern this incident has produced.

God Bless

The Nazis saw Pius XII as a primary enemy because of what he did against them.

Some facts:
Dr. Joseph Lichten, a Polish Jew who served as a diplomat and later an official of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, writes: "Pacelli had obviously established his position clearly, for the Fascist governments of both Italy and Germany spoke out vigorously against the possibility of his election to succeed Pius XI in March of 1939, though the cardinal secretary of state had served as papal nuncio in Germany from 1917 to 1929 ... The day after his election, the Berlin Morgenpost said: 'The election of cardinal Pacelli is not accepted with favor in Germany because he was always opposed to Nazism and practically determined the policies of the Vatican under his predecessor.'

The Pope secretly worked to save as many Jewish lives as possible from the Nazis, whose extermination campaign began its most intense phase only after the War had started. It is here that the anti-Catholics try to make their hay: Pius XII is charged either with cowardly silence or with outright support of the Nazi extermination of millions of Jews.

While the armchair quarterbacks of anti-Catholic circles may have wished the Pope to issue, in Axis territory and during wartime, ringing, propagandistic statements against the Nazis, the Pope realized that such was not an option if he were actually to save Jewish lives rather than simply mug for the cameras.

While the U.S., Great Britain, and other countries often refused to allow Jewish refugees to immigrate during the war, the Vatican was issuing tens of thousands of false documents to allow Jews to pass secretly as Christians so they could escape the Nazis. What is more, the financial aid Pius XII helped provide the Jews was very real. Lichten, Lapide, and other Jewish chroniclers record those funds as being in the millions of dollars—dollars even more valuable then than they are now.

Joseph Lichten records that on September 27, 1943, one of the Nazi commanders demanded of the Jewish community in Rome payment of one hundred pounds of gold within thirty-six hours or three hundred Jews would be taken prisoner. When the Jewish Community Council was only able to gather only seventy pounds of gold, they turned to the Vatican. In his memoirs, the then Chief Rabbi Zolli of Rome writes that he was sent to the Vatican, where arrangements had already been made to receive him as an ‘engineer’ called to survey a construction problem so that the Gestapo on watch at the Vatican would not bar his entry. He was met by the Vatican treasurer and secretary of state, who told him that the Holy Father himself had given orders for the deficit to be filled with gold vessels taken from the Treasury."

The Pope sent out the order that religious buildings were to give refuge to Jews, even at the price of great personal sacrifice on the part of their occupants; he released monasteries and convents from the cloister rule forbidding entry into these religious houses to all but a few specified outsiders, so that they could be used as hiding places. Thousands of Jews—the figures run from 4,000 to 7,000—were hidden, fed, clothed, and bedded in the 180 known places of refuge in Vatican City, churches and basilicas, Church administrative buildings, and parish houses. Unknown numbers of Jews were sheltered in Castel Gandolfo, the site of the Pope’s summer residence, private homes, hospitals, and nursing institutions; and the Pope took personal responsibility for the care of the children of Jews deported from Italy.

The Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, also made a statement of thanks: "What the Vatican did will be indelibly and eternally engraved in our hearts. . . . Priests and even high prelates did things that will forever be an honor to Catholicism."

After the war, Zolli became a Catholic and, to honor the Pope for what he had done for the Jews and the role he had played in Zolli’s conversion, took the name "Eugenio"—the Pope’s given name—as his own baptismal name. Zolli stressed that his conversion was for theological reasons, which was certainly true, but the fact that the Pope had worked so hard on behalf of the Jews no doubt played a role in inspiring him to look at the truths of Christianity.

Former Israeli diplomat Lapide writes: "When Zolli accepted baptism in 1945 and adopted Pius's Christian name of Eugene, most Roman Jews were convinced that his conversion was an act of gratitude for wartime succor to Jewish refugees and, repeated denials not withstanding, many are still of his opinion. Thus, Rabbi Barry Dov Schwartz wrote in the summer issue, 1964, of Conservative Judaism: 'Many Jews were persuaded to convert after the war, as a sign of gratitude, to that institution which had saved their lives.'"

How quickly people forget history.

Since the NCR did not post the entire letter from the Holy Father, I will.

HERE IT IS.

Everyone should read it.

My Heart is with the Holy Father ! No more words are needed to be spoken !

Vatican Doublespeak

The NY Times calls this letter an "apology" by the Pope for how the issue was handled. Some apology -- sounds more like a lame justification for bringing back these antisemetic clowns. The only admission is their failure to understand that information is available on the internet! Maybe the Pope should have a Facebook page.

How compassionate to not be indifferent to about 1000 Pius X members! But I guess it's okay to be indifferent to the tens of thousands of married priests and the hundreds of thousands of women who have a vocation to the priesthood.

The only germ of reality here is when he says we "ought to know how things stand". Guess what, we do know how things stand. As to the "aggressive hostility", remember, feedback is a gift.

I need a new bumper sticker: "CHIDED BY B16 -- AND PROUD OF IT"

As you point out, the reason is that the museum has presented Pius XII in an unfavorable light, distorting the historical record the Church believes to be true. Isn't the museum also making decisions that "irritate" the relations between the Jews and the Church? Are the museum directors justified and the Pope is not?

Pope Benedict recently caused much pain when he apparently without any
consultation lifted the excommunications of four traditionalist bishops who
form part of the Society of St. Pius X. This is a group that split from the
Roman Catholic Church over it refusal to accept the teachings of Vatican II
especially those on religious freedom and the status of other religions and women. In
addition, one of those prelates, Bishop Richard Williamson, has a long
record of casting doubt on the historical reality of the Holocaust.

The Williamson affair, Benedict acknowledged, "has aroused, both inside and
outside the Catholic church, a debate of a kind of vehemence that hasn’t
been seen for a long time." And so he has been forced to send a letter to
the bishops in an attempt to explain his actions.

In the letter, Benedict called it an “unforeseen misfortune” that Williamson’s views on the Holocaust have obscured the real motives for lifting the
excommunications, which, he suggested, had nothing to do with
Jewish/Catholic relations or the Holocaust, but rather with healing the only
formal schism within the Catholic church in the last 100 years. It seems odd
that he could be so blind to such an obvious repercussion.

But, what I find very interesting is his statement, "A discrete gesture of
mercy towards four bishops, ordained validly but not legitimately, suddenly
seemed like something totally different: like a denial of reconciliation
between Christians and Jews, and therefore like a rejection of what the
[Second Vatican] Council had taught in this regard for the path of the
church."

Apparently it is fine for these reactionary schismatics to select their own
bishops without papal involvement. This is in total contrast to the recent
papal control of the appointment of bishops of faithful Catholics. Could any
local Catholic Diocese freely choose their own bishops?

He even pleads for these schimatics, "Can we remain completely indifferent
to a community with 491 priests, 215 seminarians, 117 brothers, 164 sisters
and thousands of faithful?...Do we truly have to allow them to drift farther
and farther from the church?" Yet apparently he can remain completely
indifferent to millions of faithful Catholics who only want to have a voice
in the selection of who leads them in the local church which has been the
church tradition for most of history.

Benedict has a bizarre perspective on this reactionary group which opposes
religious freedom or even tolerance for any not of their narrow beliefs:
"Sometimes one has the impression that our society needs at least one group
for which it has absolutely no tolerance, a group which it can hate with a
clean conscience. Then when someone dares to come close to that group – in
this case, the pope – he too loses his right to tolerance, and he too can be
treated with hate without any fear or reservation."

I certainly have no hate for these people, pity but not hate. No let them
freely go on with their schismatic beliefs and practices, just do not force
faithful Catholics to accept their erroneous teachings as equal to those of
Vatican II.

I am deeply disturbed at the perceived insults to our Jewish brothers by the current pope. Optimally, instead he would require Bishop Williamson to accompany him to the holocaust museum and then on to a concentration camp.
It is difficult in hindsight to know of Pope Pius' motivations during the Holocaust but he did not take any personal risks or a public moral stance against the genocide.
The question we continually have with preventing genocide is whether public opinion will mediate, or halt the killings. Even if Pope Pius XII did private acts, encouraging laity and lower level priests to rescue Jews, these do not have the same moral stance of his publically condeming the Holocaust, stating that these murders were and are morally wrong.
Conversely, not visiting the museum is a public statement and as such requires that we the Catholic public, cry out in dismay at this action.
Moreover, the pope's failure to view the caption below Pius XII's photo does not rectify that a catholic pope knew of the genocide and took no public action, a sin of omission.

Someone needs to make the first move in humility and forgiveness. Who will it be? Who will be the first to put their Christ-like foot forward? What would Jesus do?

Assuming that Benedict is sincere about his outreach 49to bring back wayward Catholics should it not also include the one hundred or so silenced theologians from the past forty years or so? Some names come readily to mind: Charles Curran of the United States, Edward Schillebeeckx of Belgium, Leo Boff of Brazil, and Hans Kung of Germany. Tissa Balasuriya of Sri Lanka; Anthony de Mello of India; Paul Collins of Australia; Lavinia Byrne of England; Andre Guindon of Canada; Matthew Fox, Barbara Fiand, Roger Haight, Carmel, McEnroy, Robert Nugent, and Jeannine Gramick of the United States: Gustavo Gutierrez of Peru; Luigi Lombardi Vallauri at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart at Milan; Belgian Jesuit Jacques Dupuis at the Gregorian University in Rome; Luigi Marinelli, a retired Vatican official; Bernard Haring of England; and Ivone Gebara of Brazil. Most of the above are (or were) either priests or sisters.
I’m sure each one of them also
have or had huge followings within the world’s Catholic circles and perhaps even greater than those attached to the Society of St. Pius X.
If our Pope is willing to bring these respected individuals back into the fold we will be able to say in his own words that the magisterial authority of the church is no longer frozen in 1962. More importantly, the church will then be able to demonstrate God’s mercy and forgiveness reaches all – not just a select few.

From 1988-2003, Bishop Richard Williamson, was rector of the Society of St. Pius X seminary in Winona, Minnesota. During that period he made numerous anti-Semitic and Holocaust denying statements.
On February 8, 2009, an Associated Press article reported this fact and quoted one such comment from the Winona Daily News. It was a quote from a speech which Williamson gave at Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes church in Sherbrooke, Canada in 1989:
"There was not one Jew killed in the gas chambers. It was all lies, lies, lies. The Jews created the Holocaust so we could prostrate ourselves on our knees before them and approve of their new State of Israel - - - Jews made up the Holocaust, Protestants get their orders from the devil, and the Vatican has sold its soul to liberalism".
One wonders if Benedict would have been so quick to revoke the excommunication of Bishop Williamson had he been a denier of the Allied air forces firebombing raids on Dresden and Berlin.

Seems to me everyone on both sides ought to be clamoring to have ALL of the documentation, from everywhere, made public, so that the matter can be effectively debated. Closed door Jewish meetings serve no purpose. Cryptic, apologetic statements by papal spokespeople serve no purpose either. Perhaps with openness, everyone will end up concluding that the situation was a paradox. Maybe not. But at least the debate would be on the front stage.

Not entering a museum is a pretty sophomoric way to protest. Kind of high schoolish if you ask me.

And regards other public defendings (e.g. the excommunication of abortion doctors/nurses in Latin America for an equally, perhaps more complex situation) - just goes to show you that everyone, including the pope, is a cafeteria Catholic. Not that this is a bad thing. Just a human thing.

I can also point out that JC himself didn't try to change things quietly and behind the scenes. Pius XII certainly didn't emulate JC during those times - of course if he had, it might have gotten him killed. He just acted humanly. Ergo, the pope is human, not infallible or the closest thing to God. But that's another debate....

Doesn't this sound a little on the hysterical side?

"Our society needs at least one group ... which it can hate with a clean conscience ... When someone dares to come close to that group ... he too loses his right to tolerance and can be treated with hate ..."

I think this sounds extremely overwrought. I've never seen anybody express anything close to "hate" about SSPX, to say nothing of Pope B. The crowds in European cities, on the other hand, shouting "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas!" well, that is something you could reasonably consider "hate."

Pope Benedict needs to get out more. He might discover the existence of other people.

The title of this article is misleading and contributes to misunderstanding. I would have thought that after all of the pain caused by the lack of clarity by the Vatican and uninformed reporting by the media, Mr. Allen would have been more responsible with the title of this article.
The pope IS going to Yad Ashem. Touring the museum was NEVER a part of the itinerary. You are making assumptions about motives which are disputed by the planners of this historic trip.
After having read the pope's letter I come away with an entirely different perception than what you have emphasized in this article. It is an unprecedented letter which hopes to explain his decisions. It is full of charity and humility. I am disheartened by some of the opportunistic comments by those who appear to ignore the facts.
So here we go again. This is what sensationalist reporting does. I am disappointed in the usually professional Mr. Allen.

It would be a magnanimous gesture to visit the museum.

Humility leads to dialogue. Would it not be wonderful to have a shared effort from the Vatican and the museum's staff to compile all existing primary sources and review then in a scholarly way to address the Pope Pius XII issue?

Let's make the first step. Let's pray that it will be reciprocated.

I'm beginning to wonder if the cardinals who elected him Pope knew what they were getting. Here we have a man, comfortable in the seminar rooms, enjoying correcting obscure foot-notes to even more obscure theological articles and then occasionally denying a theologian the right to teach. But now he's the head of the church. And what are we seeing: a public relations disaster, the head of a church with a billion members putting the whole church in a bad light for tolerating holocaust deniers. And now saying "oh but you misunderstood this was just a "“A discrete gesture of mercy towards four bishops..." as if he had the time to even notice this tiny group of right-wing fanatics. Could this "discrete gesture" be something else: an overt gesture to the Catholic right--I'm totally on your side--do whatever you want and I'm in your corner.
I close with a fantasy---The present president of the United Nations Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann and the Pope actually debating head to head the meaning of the church.

REMAIN INDIFFERENT..??
Pope says, "Can we remain indifferent to a community with 491 priests, seminarians, etc...?"
DAH.. POPE REMAINS INDIFFERENT TO THE WHOLE COMMUNITY OF CATHOLIC WOMEN.
Walk out ladies...no $$'s ladies...I think if there were some women in Pope's Communication Staff and inner circle...HE WOULD GET IT. Jesus would visit the museum. AMEN

There is no doubt that Pius XII was living a holy life and was suffering under the pressure of the office, but Cardinal Pacelli was also a diplomat in Europe before becoming Pope and concluded the Concordat with The Hitler regime. The Church appeared go be obsessed with Communism at the time considering Nazi domination as the lesser evil. Having lived personally at the time in a neutral European country, I can remember and confirm Catholics and non-Catholics being concerned that the Pope did not speak out sufficiently against Nazism and its evils. This is a historical fact, and cannot be wiped under the table by the Vatican.

Sorry, but I have to say to the Holy Father: Grow up and be a man, please. If people criticize you, you don't have to whine about it.

The Vatican freaks out anytime anybody criticizes the Pope, saying that constructive criticism is welcome, but the kind offered here is too harsh, unfair, or is, in some other way, problematic. Yet, that type of constructive criticism never comes!

Come on, you're the leader of a BILLION PEOPLE and GOD'S REPRESENTATIVE on earth. What do you care if a few people get dirty?

Pope Benedict is proof that extreme intellegence can create blindness to simple reality. I have read the full text of the pope's letter. Once again the Vatican explains its present controversy on the sins of a godless world and the evil in men's (sic) hearts. The pope cannot even conceive of the idea of the problems being the errors of the church. Then he takes on the same 'victim' mentality that the U.S. bishops have cloaked themselves with during the pedephilia scandal: it's the evil press, it's the enemies of the church, its the devil's assault on the church... No, it's you.

This is some serious paranoid/schitzophrenia. It's like the crew of the Titanic blaming the evil plots of the ocean. How sad I feel for what was my church.

I don't think that anyone would question the pope on anything if he would
just take the time to read the Holy Bible and base his decisions accordingly.

The Pope is papa to all nations in general, and at the same time he is the representative of Christ for catholics in particular but not of the Jews sadly. He will do what is best for the Church as his priority. The old testament clearly points out that the Jews causes all the troubles to themselves, that is not an opinion. They need to admit it. Only sincere introspection and rependance will lead them to real freedom. But i am very sorry that they do not understand it until today. What will happen next to them if they go on like this?

When I observe Benedict XVI, I'm reminded of the saying, "He's so careful, he's dangerous!"

This pope is his own worst enemy: trying to protect a kind of church directly responsible for all the crap that's hit the fan over the past many years.

Really, this pope has no credibility. The more he opens his mouth, the more he makes room for his feet!

Sad.

Why do those who condemn Pius XII for not publicly condemning the holocaust of 6 million Jews and 5 million Christians and other groups in the 40's now condemn the pope and bishops for condemning the holocaust of 50 million innocents in our own time? You say that they should not get involved in "political issues" now. Yet, you say popes should have in the past?

The repressive prelates of Brazil have rebuked their horrendous counterpart and nullified his abominable excomunication of the mother of a little girl who aborted the ugly foetus her step-father forced upon her.
The Brazilian president must have weighed in in their about-face which other secular leaders should do.
But who will repudiate the excommunicator's compatriote, the Vatican's Battista Re who blessed and approved the vicious and anti-Christian act?

Why are supposedly progressive Christians so uptight about Pope Benedict XVI
setting up his own travel itinerary when he visits the Holy Land?
So, he's not going to set foot inside another holocaust museum while passing
through Israel, is that such a mortal affront to Jews? I think not.
Didn't the Pope visit the actual death camps when he re-visited his homeland?
Why are we so sensitive to the possibility of hurting Israeli feelings?
I've yet to hear or see any Jew express an apology or remorse at the numerous
insults or lack of sensitivity shown the late Pope Pius XII of blessed memory?
His meritorious and valiant attempts to save Christians and Jews from total
annihilation at the hands of the godless nazis during WWII are either denied
or completely misconstrude. At least Benedict XVI has come to Pius XII defense. And, rightfully so. If Catholics don't stand up and speak up for
the truth, no one else will. I'm also pleased with the current rapprochment
which is finally taking place with traditionalist Catholics, eventhough one
of their bishops is clinging to views which are being erroneously criticized
as anti-semitic. Genocide of any race of people is morally reprehensible and
cannot be tolerated by decent human beings. However, legitimate debating
and honest exchanges of views between pro and con factions on such sensitive
issues as genocide, death camps, terrorism, suicide bombings/bombers, and yes
even the holocaust, should not be dismissed or hampered. Everyone is entitled to be better informed in this age of mass communications and the
world wide web. Let us truly beware of those forces which would limit or
censor the dissemination of information and knowledge to serve their nefarious ends. The Truth alone can set us free.

We invite you to sign our petition to encourage Pope Benedict XVI to visit Gaza during his planned trip to the Holy Land in May 2009. This petition is for people and organizations of any religion or non-religious persons to consider signing, as we share a common goal for peace and justice.

The petition will be sent to the Vatican and Pope. We have signatures from Catholics in Gaza, including the one Catholic Priest, as well as from Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and non-religiously affiliated persons around the world.

Petition:

“To Pope Benedict XVI, on the occasion of his visit to the Holy Land in May, 2009:

Your Holiness:
The incarnation of divine love and our redeemer, Jesus Christ, enacted human reconciliation in part by visiting, eating with, and listening to the least among us: women and children, lepers and tax collectors, many persons deemed inferior and unclean by his society. Through his words and deeds, Jesus taught us to love our enemies as ourselves and to be blessed peacemakers, persecuted for his sake and the sake of the Kingdom. In his incarnation, life, death, and resurrection, Christ challenged sinful social situations that relied on exclusion, dominance, and violence.

In many ways, the people of Gaza have been suffering under similar unjust social systems. In many ways, the Israelis, too, live in fear, distrust, and uncertainty. And thus the deeper justice of mutual healing is needed for both peoples. However, the people of Gaza in large part represent "the least among us” today. Their territory has been cut off and isolated. Their access to basic health care, education, jobs, adequate nutrition, and clean water, etc. has been severely hampered. Thus, their capacity to participate effectively in their political process and their potential for full human flourishing suffers enormously. When we ask, "Whose equal dignity is most unequally ignored?" or "Whose equal rights are most unequally threatened?" the faces of the people in Gaza clearly arise.

Mindful of the gospel’s call and the Gazan’s need, we believe there is a unique opportunity for Christians as the body of Christ, especially for our leadership, to cooperate with God in the redemptive work of reconciliation. As in all times, the way of reconciliation exemplified by Jesus calls us to initiate social healing by visiting, eating with, listening to, and risking our safety in solidarity with the “least among us” -- in this case the people of Gaza. Moreover, like Christ, we need to be willing to risk our lives without the protection of arms, and thus, to live by the loving wisdom of the cross and the divine hope of the resurrection. Such witness by Church leadership will inspire the Catholic faithful, particularly the young, to embrace their Church and its rich tradition, particularly Christ’s wise, loving, and nonviolent way of promoting reconciliation. Such witness will also encourage other religious leaders to practice nonviolent peacemaking. We trust and hope that through such courageous love, embodied in nonviolent peacemaking, God’s Spirit and our participation will draw us all further into the Reign of God.”

Sign the petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/popegaza/petition.html

Please consider sending this to other organizations and individuals to sign, even if you prefer not to sign.

Wings of Hope
be with you,
Eli, Colleen, and Mark

Eli S. McCarthy
PhD Candidate
Graduate Theological Union
eli_trinity@hotmail.com

Colleen Williams
Peace Advocate
Catholic Lay Ministry

Mark Miller
Assistant Professor in Theology and Religious Studies
University of San Francisco

Form all those who are interested in the church´s future here is
a chance to express their concern:

http://www.petition-vaticanum2.org/pageID_7327623.html

Werner Rauch

Now this just-revealed well-kept secret will not only infuriate but enrage them: Papa Ratzi has supported other Holocaust deniers as well as several extreme-right organizations.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,613756,00.html