| Tales of a Misspent Youth Comment
As we approach the date in history that marks 60 years since the end
of the Second World War, there still seems to persist in some sections of
the British tabloid press the belief that all Germans must undoubtedly be
Nazis.
How else can we explain the vilification that the new Pope has had to
endure, even before he was elected, for his alleged Nazi sympathies when
he was a teenager in Germany in the 1930s.
One cartoon even had the Holy Father, who has been dubbed elsewhere as
God’s Rotweiler, spreading an imaginary towel first thing in the morning
over the deckchairs beside a holiday pool.
It is crass. It is racist. It is anti-Catholic.
The picture of the new Pope that the British press has concentrated on
showing us is a complete distortion of the facts.
Pope Benedict XVI himself to silence his critics has established these
facts and they have been checked by independent sources.
They tell us about a boy growing up with his family in the nightmare
of pre-war Germany, doing their best to survive while maintaining their
faith and integrity.
How cheap it is some 70 years on to come up with a headline: “Hitler
Youth who became Pope”.
The father of the young Joseph Ratzinger was fiercely anti-Nazi, but
it was not a wise idea to speak out in the area of Bavaria where the family
lived. So they kept themselves to themselves.
It was not so easy for Joseph and his older brother when they went to
school. There, it seems, they were registered in the Hitler Youth — to decline
was dangerous. But there is no evidence to suggest either boy took part
in Youth activities. They were too busy in the seminary.
The modern Europe of today has united old enemies who have joined together
with countries like Ireland in building a united Europe where democracy
is enshrined.
It is time to forgive and forget the past — at least if all the British
press can concentrate on is rank xenophobia.
Nevertheless, Pope Benedict XVI is a controversial choice. The views
he has expressed in the past on subjects like celibacy, contraception, divorce,
homosexuality and the ordination of women priests all indicate that he is
unlikely to be more liberal than his predecessors.
These are challenging times for the Catholic Church and its new leader
and there are issues to be addressed.
Maybe the British tabloids should concentrate more on how the Holy Father
tackles these issues rather than raking up alleged tales of a tacky past.
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