Djamila said:Well, when the Panzer Pope stories first erupted in the European press, there were furious denials from the Vatican. They admitted he was part of Hitler Youth but explained all German children were at the time, and the Pope did express sentiments of not supporting the Nazi regime at several points throughout his lifetime.
It wasn't enough for many, though. Jewish groups in Europe, many of them, were still annoyed.
So you don't believe the Church I'm guessing. You honestly think Benedict survived as a close aid to John Paul II with Nazi leanings? What are you saying here exactly?
A man who was forced to be part of the Nazi Youth, (a legal obligation of the day,) whose father was in complete opposition to Nazism, whose own family members had been killed by Nazis; I say he is a triumph for the German people. A priest born of the ashes of Nazi Germany becoming Pope? He is both a triumph and a testament to the will of the German people.
But all that doesn't matter of course. He was in Hitler's Youth, case closed. Right?
We all mourned the loss of John Paul II. In fact his death renewed my faith in the Catholic Church at a time when I really only paid lip service to my religion. I think his memory and his way of leadership will live on in the minds of the world's people for a long time to come. However, he was also opposed to some of the more liberal topics confronting the Church, such as birth control.
Djamila said:He was just a wonderful man, a humanitarian, compassionate, charismatic, all of these things that the new Pope isn't. Relations here have only gotten worse in his rule.
Benedict's first encyclical is entitled 'God is Love,' and it is a treatise on how man was made for love. I ask you again, why is it not okay for a Christian authority, in times like this, to lament and warn against the belief that man is seemingly made for war, a belief held by extremist Muslims living in wrongful accordance to half of certain commandings of the Prophet Mohammad.