New Pope is a German

stem

Tue, Apr 19 2005, 1:01 pm

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger Named Pope Benedict XVI. He is known to be a "traditionalist" who made a speech on Monday urging the church to "stay true to itself"...

Does the fact that he is German bother anyone else? Is it just me, or is anyone else wondering what he was doing during WWII ? (he is 78 years old).

Last edited by stem on Tue, Apr 19 2005, 1:11 pm; edited 1 time in total

sarahd

Tue, Apr 19 2005, 2:37 pm

stem wrote:

Does the fact that he is German bother anyone else? Is it just me, or is anyone else wondering what he was doing during WWII ? (he is 78 years old).

There is a limit to what he could have been doing, as he was only 18 when the war ended. My understanding is that he was studying in "seminary" and was a member of the ym"sh Hitler Youth. Supposedly, this was compulsory at the time and he didn't register himself, but a teacher did it for him. Maybe, maybe not.

daisy

Tue, Apr 19 2005, 3:53 pm

read this from an article:

Unknown to many members of the church, however, Ratzinger’s past includes brief membership of the Hitler Youth movement and wartime service with a German army anti- aircraft unit.

full article
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/a......html

As posted before, the article did say that it was compulsory, and that he eventually deserted. Not great, but pretty benign and nothing to evoke panic at the moment. I guess time will tell...

Chanie

Tue, Apr 19 2005, 5:40 pm

I don't see why only the fact that he's german bothers you.. did you read the entire article? He seems to be extremely different then John Paul 2, who was the first Pope to invite rabbi's to the vatican and visit shuls.

Quote:

He upset many Jews with a statement in 1987 that Jewish history and scripture reach fulfilment only in Christ — a position denounced by critics as “theological anti-semitism”. He made more enemies among other religions in 2000, when he signed a document, Dominus Yoshke, in which he argued: “Only in the Catholic church is there eternal salvation”.

Quote:

One liberal theologian,when asked what he thought of a Ratzinger papacy, was more direct: “It fills me with horror.”

stem

Tue, Apr 19 2005, 5:51 pm

Quote:

He upset many Jews with a statement in 1987 that Jewish history and scripture reach fulfilment only in Christ — a position denounced by critics as “theological anti-semitism”. He made more enemies among other religions in 2000, when he signed a document, Dominus YOSHKE, in which he argued: “Only in the Catholic church is there eternal salvation”.

This is nothing new. Every Catholic in history thought and thinks this.

Rivka

Tue, Apr 19 2005, 6:20 pm

I was wondering if this was going to be on here.
Well this is what I think. This new Pope a German, the fact he is German doesn't bother me. The fact he is very conservative and thinks only his religion is valid is what bothers me. The fact he was in Hitler Youth, maybe coz we don't know what he did there. He was serving in the anti-aricraft unit during WWII and then later on fled the army.
Probably ran to the Vatican to be a priest. Anyway, I am not too sure about this guy. We shall see. But so far it doesn't sound too good for us.
So for those dissing the past Pope and going on about him like he was the worst person ever, I hope you are all pleased with this new one, coz now you may have a real reason to start dissing the Pope.

roza

Tue, Apr 19 2005, 8:31 pm

I put in yoshke instead of...

Quote:

Interreligious Dialogue and Jewish-x-tian Relations

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

Cardinal Ratzinger on the Jews and yoshke x

"... Israel still has a mission to accomplish today. We are in fact waiting for the moment when Israel, too, will say Yes to yoshke, but we also know that while history still runs its course even this standing at the door fulfills a mission, one that is important for the world. In that way this people still has a special place in God's plans. ...

"... But they are not simply done with and left out of God's plans; rather, they still stand within the faithful covenant of God.

"... That does not mean that we have to force yoshke upon them but that we should try to share in the patience of God. We also have to try to live our life together in yoshke in such a way that it no longer stands in opposition to them or would be unacceptable to them but so that it facilitates their own approach to it. ...

"... we know that they are assured of the faithfulness of God. They are not excluded from salvation, but they serve salvation in a particular way, and thereby they stand within the patience of God, in which we, too, place our trust. Cardinal Ratzinger, God and World(Igbatius Presspp. 149-51).

Tefila

Tue, Apr 19 2005, 9:57 pm

Quote:

perhaps this will be a very brief papacy

But if he is a charismatic speaker then one pulpit can do lots.
Hitler yemach shemo wasn't in power very long but long enough for him to achieve the effect he wanted Exclamation

ahuvah

Wed, Apr 27 2005, 3:44 pm

I think if you look carefully and read it appears that he picked the name Benedict because the previous Benedicts were pastoral.
I work with roman Cathoclics and one in particular told me that she was taught that " there are many paths up the mountain to G-d- we need to be willing to hear what he has to say and give him a chance-- none of us has a crystal ball.
he invited the rabbi to his induction mass -- doesn't that say something?

Tefila

Wed, May 04 2005, 5:19 pm

Quote:

, did you know that before he became Pope he headed the Holy Office, also known as the Inquisition?

Sarahd Huh r u pulling our legs or what 8)
That was if true Years agggggoooooo which makes him more then ancient!

sarahd

Wed, May 04 2005, 5:21 pm

It's true, of course. The Inquisition still exists, although they stopped burning us at the stake a couple of hundred years ago. They still go after heretic priests, I believe. No burning at the stake, though, last I heard.