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.
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That picture is incredibly insulting to Catholics.
ReplyDeleteThe photo symbolises the seriousness of what the Pope has done in withdrawing the excommunication of that Bishop who denies 6 million Jews were murdered in our lifetime.
ReplyDeleteIt also reminds us in a shock horror way what the symbol represents - the death of all 6 million innocents.
May they rest in peace.
i thought the pope was infallible so why has he made this decision .
ReplyDeleteThis propaganda filled blog is full of nonsense. Not only does it fail to logically articulate any point, resorting to unbridled and unfocused emotion instead, in fact it gets all the conclusions WRONG. One would thing this blog was a product of State Anglicanism or anti-Catholic Jack Chick, the caricature would be ridiculous if it weren't so pathetically extreme.
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ with the above poster. I think this is an excellent site and the awards it has received for religious sites has proved that.
ReplyDeleteIt is run by a member of the Clergy who keeps us informed about "The Good, The Bad and the downright Ugly" within our Church and he does not hide or bury issues under the carpet like so many of his fellow Clergy.
God Bless Him and may he continue with the good work.
The only embarrassment here are those Germans ( laity and members of the clergy) who have the gall to call themselves Catholic. Their attacks on the Holy Father are truely disgusting. Pope Benedict XVI in no way have to justify his position on any matter to these pseudo Catholics. If the Germans suffer from a collectivie guilt complex, that's their problem. The one advantage to this whole episode is to illustrate how much the Catholic Church is hated in the world ( and who here emenies really are !)
ReplyDeleteFrench Catholic