By Madeline Chambers ADVERTISEMENT BERLIN (Reuters) - Nearly four years after a rare outburst of national pride over the election of a German pope, Germans are falling out of love with Pope Benedict because of his rehabilitation of a bishop who denies the Holocaust.......................................................................... Prominent Catholics, politicians and newspaper commentators in Joseph Ratzinger's homeland are pulling no punches in their criticism of his lifting of the excommunications of four bishops, including one who denies the extent of the Holocaust............................................................. Chancellor Angela Merkel also criticized him, prompting a sharp response from the Vatican......................................................... "Worldwide criticism of the Pope," read the front page of top-selling daily Bild. It was a contrast to the jubilant "We are the pope!" headline in April 2005 to celebrate his election.. "The pope has made a serious mistake. That he is a German pope makes the matter especially bad," read its editorial. "Pope Benedict XVI is inflicting great damage on Germany ... The pope must correct his mistake, reverse his decision and excuse himself," it said, in comments echoed by other papers.................................................................. Former Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher wrote in the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung: "Poles can be proud of Pope John Paul II. At the last papal election, we said "We are the pope!" But please -- not like this."................................................... More than 60 years after the end of World War Two, Germans are still struggling to come to terms with the legacy of the Holocaust, in which Nazis killed 6 million European Jews, and relations with the Jewish community are highly charged...................................................... Last week, Germany's Central Council of Jews said it was breaking off ties with the Catholic Church over the pope's move......................................... The rehabilitated bishop at the center of the storm is Richard Williamson, who belongs to the ultra-traditional Society of Saint Pius X and denies the extent of the Holocaust.............................................................. SERIAL ERRORS Last month the British-born bishop told a Swedish broadcaster he believed there were no gas chambers and no more than 300,000 Jews perished in concentration camps. Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany and state prosecutors in the southern city of Regensburg are investigating Williamson for incitement. German neo-Nazi websites and blogs have published contributions supporting Williamson's stand. In his commentary, Genscher argued that Ratzinger, forced to join the Hitler Youth as a boy though his parents opposed the Nazis, was making a habit of offending non-Catholics. He has shown little respect to Protestants and angered Muslims by hinting Islam was violent and irrational in a 2006 speech in Regensburg, Genscher said. "This is a deep moral and political question. It is about respect for the victims of crimes against humanity," he wrote. Other politicians joined in, and in an unusual intervention Chancellor Merkel, daughter of a Protestant pastor, called on him to make clear he rejected any Holocaust denial. "It is a fundamental question if, through a decision by the Vatican, the impression arises that the Holocaust can be denied," she said, adding she wanted a clarification. The Vatican hit back, saying the pope's position on the Holocaust was unambiguous. "The condemnation of declarations which deny the Holocaust could not have been any clearer," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement. The pope has also been criticized by German Catholics. Hamburg Archbishop Werner Thissen was quoted as saying the decision risked undermining trust in the church. Cardinal Karl Lehmann, former chair of Germany's Catholic bishops' conference and head of Germany's 26 million Catholics, has described the affair as a catastrophe. Others say it has exposed flaws in the pope's detached governing style. "It's an unforgivable mistake, and also a political error that Swiss, German and French bishops' conferences, where most people of the brotherhood live, were not informed beforehand," widely respected theologian Hans Maier told Vatican Radio. (Editing by Charles Dick) ..
Germany wants to know .."What the Hell is Wrong with the Pope?!"
by OUTLAW 7 Replies latest jw friends
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avishai
Part of the problem is that all 6 million did'nt die in camps. Yes, I know there were camps, their were gas chambers and crematoriums. But deniers bring up the 6 mil. figure and then equate all 6 mil. with the camps. Many people forget that in many areas, they just killed the Jews on site. Wiped out whole villiages, millions were killed in other areas. Or died due to poor conditions on trains, in their villages due to Nazi sieges etc.
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dinah
His hat is too big.
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BurnTheShips
Take a step back and look at the big picture and why this was done. Hundreds of churches were and 150,000 Catholics were under these 4 bishops, and lifting the excommunication helps bring them back. Yes, a couple of these bishops have said things which they shouldn't have but why should all these people suffer for a statement made by another that incidentally has nothing to do with either faith or morality?
Benedict's words on January 28th:
In the homily pronounced on the occasion of the solemn inauguration of my Pontificate, I said that it is the "explicit" duty of the Pastor "the call to unity", and, commenting upon the Gospel words regarding the miraculous catch of fish, I said, "although there were so many, the net was not torn"; I continued after these Gospel words, "Alas, beloved Lord, with sorrow we must now acknowledge that it has been torn!". And I continued, "But no – we must not be sad! Let us rejoice because of your promise, which does not disappoint, and let us do all we can to pursue the path towards the unity you have promised. Let us remember it in our prayer to the Lord, as we plead with him: yes, Lord, remember your promise. Grant that we may be one flock and one shepherd! Do not allow your net to be torn, help us to be servants of unity!"
Precisely in the accomplishment of this service of unity, which qualifies, in a specific way, my ministry as Successor of Peter, I decided, a few days ago, to grant the remission of the excommunication in which the four bishops ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988, without pontifical mandate, had incurred. I fulfilled this act of fatherly mercy because those prelates repeatedly manifested to me their deep suffering for the situation in which they found themselves. I hope that this gesture of mine will be followed by the solicitous effort by them to accomplish the ulterior steps necessary to accomplish full communion with the Church, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope and of the Second Vatican Council."What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.
BTS
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OUTLAW
........"His hat is too big."......Don`t forget the Ruby Red Slippers he stole from Dorothy!..Dorothy clicked them 3 times,left OZ and went back to Kansas.....The Pope clicked the Ruby Red Slippers 3 times,left the Vatican and went to Germany!...................LOL!!...OUTLAW
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Satanus
Does the pope run the catholic church, or does israel;)
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Elsewhere
We need to make sure the world learns the TRUTH: The Pope does not exist. Hever has, ever will. It's all a lie made up by evil jews.