April 19, 2005

New Pope Elected

White smoke and the ringing of bells at the Vatican have signaled that a new Pope has been elected. It was a lot sooner than I had expected.

Still waiting word on who it is.

Update: No surprise here. The new Pope is German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Let's just hope that people who don't know anything about history (aka liberals) won't go crazy over the fact that as a child (age 14), he was a member of the Hitler Youth...which was pretty much compulsory in Germany during that time.

Oh...too late.

Update II: He has taken the name of Pope Benedict XVI. Story here.

Update III: More on his experiences during WWII:

In his memoirs, Ratzinger wrote that he was enrolled in the Nazi youth movement against his will when he was 14 in 1941, when membership was compulsory. He said he was soon let out because of his studies for the priesthood.

Two years later he was drafted into a Nazi anti-aircraft unit as a helper, a common taks for teenage boys too young to be soldiers. A year later he was released, only to be sent to the Austrian-Hungarian border to construct tank barriers.

He deserted the Germany army in May 1945 and returned to Traunstein — a risky move, since deserters were shot on the spot if caught, or publicly hanged as examples to others.

When he arrived home, U.S. soldiers took him prisoner and held him in a POW camp for several weeks. Upon his release, he re-entered the seminary.

As a student of WWII history, I would have to say that his experiences should be honored and not used against him.

It also looks like Benedict XVI will be very conservative.

As an aside, I haven't seen much talk about the prophecy of St. Malachy. Is this Pope "Gloria Olivae" (The Glory of the Olives)? It should be noted that the Order of St. Benedict is also known as the Olivetans.

More: Bill Hobbs has thoughts on the new Pope:

Eternal truth is eternal truth. If Pope Benedict XVI stands up for it, and stays committed to it, the world will be better off. The last thing the world needs is a post-modern pope who believes the church should change its teaching based on public opinion polls.

I couldn't agree more.

Comments:

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Well, take a look at who Ratzinger chose to name himself after, Benedict XV. He was remembered for his efforts to mediate peace during WW1 and for working with those affected by the war. Could Benedict XVI be signalling that he's going to work for peace in the era of the War on Terror? That would be the "olive branch of peace" and hence the "glory of the olive." Just speculating....

Posted by: mike hollihan at April 19, 2005 02:51 PM

Excellent point.

Posted by: Blake at April 19, 2005 02:53 PM

To say that liberals don't know their history is erroneous. Hoping we don't mention Ratzinger's past contributes to the denial of the past.

FYI...Except for my parents, my entire family died in WW2. My aunts and uncles, the same age and younger then Ratzinger was as a Hitler Youth, chose to stay and become partisans and fight for what was right. Ratzinger not standing up for what as right at age 14 shows me (a) what he is made of, (b) he made a childhood mistake, (c) both. I could have easily let this go if he had been the least bit contrite about what he did in his youth. However, as recent as 1987, he made remarks unflattering to the Jewish people.
But, like any good liberal, I will keep an open mind and see what he does now with the Jews and Israel.
Best wishes,
Sharon Cobb

Posted by: Sharon at April 19, 2005 03:12 PM

open mind?
is that what you meant when you said "If Ratzinger is the new Pope, I'll personally open up the whole can of whupass."

Posted by: ripper at April 19, 2005 03:17 PM

Sharon, communism killed more people than the Nazi's ever dreamed of doing, yet you folks on the left just seem to love those commies. Once you all start denouncing the Marxists in your midst, you can start preaching to the rest of us, as to who should be the bloody Pope.

Posted by: Brad at April 19, 2005 04:07 PM

More on the choice of name here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1386853/posts/

Take it with a grain of salt, of course.

Posted by: mike hollihan at April 19, 2005 04:08 PM

Deserting the Wehrmacht in May of 1945 is nothing a man should desrve "credit" for. The battle of Berlin was raging and the German army was falling apart. Germany surrendered on May 8th. As a "student of WWII" you should know that desertion was commonplace in the German army: soldiers tried to get out while they could.
But the fact remains that he did participate in the system, and this uneasy acquiescence of the unwilling was what kept the system going. When he was drafted into the army, he had the chance to resist. Not necessarily actively, he could have gone into hiding. (Which was entirely possible, Chancellor Adenauer spent the war years in a monastery. Given Ratzinger's previous connections to the Church, this possibility does not seem too remote.)
But he didn't. He didn't show the courage to step away and not participate in the system. Which is why I'm disappointed in the Church's choice.
If (God forbid) another such regime were to rise, will Benedict XVI really be able to legitimately tell his followers to stay true to their faith and not be ensnared in the system?

Posted by: John at April 19, 2005 08:14 PM

John and Sharon need to widen their view of Ratzinger's life. Ratzinger was the prime mover and author of the Vatican's ground-breaking 2000 document -- and change of position -- regarding Catholic Church treatment of Jews, both historically and specifically in WW2, and the apology that followed.

Jeez, an atheist defending the Catholic Pope.... What a world.

Posted by: mike hollihan at April 19, 2005 09:32 PM

Brad,

You give to much.

Adolf Hitler was a marxist certainly up to the point
he helped found national socialism and arguably all
his life. Joseph Goebbels was a marxist certainly
up to the point he joined the national socialists,
and arguably all his life. Most of the top leadership
of the nazis circa the time the nazis came to power
have this marxist background.

A good part of the nazi program has a marxist flavor:
the rejection of individualism; the anti-capitalist
rhetoric; the nationalization of industries and farms;
the purging of people from industry, media and schools
who did not have pro-nazi attitudes; and arguably even
the Holocast itself (see Karl Marx's "On The Jewish
Question").

There were three socialist parties in germany: the
communists, the social democrats, and the national
socialists. Between them they represented a little
over half the germany electorate. But there was
another half, of which we hear little about.

Posted by: Mark Amerman at April 20, 2005 02:46 AM

Brad,
Why would you assume a liberal has anything to do with communism? I resent any attachment of my name to it.
My grandparents on both sides fled Russia because of religious persecution. While my parents made it over here, the rest of my family perished because they first wanted religious freedom, then were killed for it.
It would be petty of me to ask, "Why do all you right wingers assume we liberals aren't religious or commie haters?" However, I won't ask that. I know some right wingers who actually think for themselves and want to have a dialogue and not make assumptions based on radio talk show rhetoric. Brad, you couldn't be more wrong.
Peace out,
Sharon

Posted by: Sharon at April 20, 2005 02:48 AM

Please take a second and check this out. The new pope had been elected for only 11 hours when I received an emailed newsletter from a group called Tikkun. They described his election as a catastrophe for the world and the Jewish people.... pretty good for a man only half a day in power. Here's the URL, read it and try to decide why Americans spend more aid money on Israel than any other nation on the planet. Each Israeli citizen receives the equivalent of 1500 US taxpayer dollars while nations ravaged by AIDS and natural disasters receive on average 89 cents per person. Something is radically wrong here. Let the pope serve in peace a while before condemning him and let us work diligently in the causes of peace as well.

Gordon

Posted by: Gordon at April 20, 2005 02:42 PM

Sharon,
Us right-wingers don't belive liberals arent religious, liberals just don't know the knowledge of the bible as well. For instance, gay-is-good, pro-abortion, pro-death is generaly held as a liberal view. If you ever read the bible, these things are sinful and liberals support them. So you would be cutting down John Paul the great also. Ratzinger shares many of the same views of John Paul and I like that. Even if he fled the nazis, so did your parents, which is the reason your here, smart "conservative pro-life" move...
John Paul and Ratzinger are conservative and their views of not letting the public polls determine how the church works is a smart move. The slime of humanity should, and has no say in determining how the church should run or how God's word should be changed, espeacially liberals and their views. You may belive in liberal freedom but maybe not freedom with discipline of the bible which is totally different. Eternal truth is enteral truth, end of story. It doesnt matter what kind of past the pope has, as long as he sticks with eternal truth teachings and God's word, then the world will be better off. But if he starts letting the uneducated public have a say in church teachings, then we'll see many liberals getting in and saying the bible says its OK to kill babies and be gay, which is an antichrist view and would hurt the whole world.

Posted by: Joe at April 20, 2005 03:33 PM

Hi Joe,
Thank you for a well thought out post. I think the major disagreement is I don't believe my religious beliefs, or yours or anyone elses should infringe on others. When people like to point out parts of the Bible that relate to homosexuality, they leave out the part about smiting their neighbors if they fail to observe the Sabbath. Obviously the latter is not a point of contention, so why should the former be one?
One of the reasons the Christian right is so hated, isn't because of believing in absolute truths for themselves, but in trying to force others to believe that they should/must live that way. That isn't religous freedom, that's religious facism.
I would like to point out that most liberals are pro life, in the strictest sense. From the time a baby is born, we are the ones who are fighting for its healthcare, preschcool and aftercare programs, special education, free lunches, etc.
While most so called "pro life" people are talking about is "Pro fetus." After that fetus matures and is out of the woman, you want nothing to do with it. As a result, these are often the children who need extra help from society, and when they don't get it, sometimes end up doing some really horrible things and going to jail. Then, when this fully formed being has suffered through life due to being forced to be born to a mother who didn't want him and a society who wouldn't help him, that is when you want to kill him!! Give him the death penalty! Now that is murder!
Back to the subject of religion. In Amecica, one must not be persecuted for not believing in your G-d or mine. This is not a Christian nation, as you would like us to believe. A President puts his-soon to be "her" hand on the Bible to defend the Constitution, not the other way around.
Best,
Sharon

Posted by: Sharon Cobb at April 20, 2005 03:54 PM

Gordon,
You didn't post the URL. I think you are reffering to "Tikkun Olam," which means "world repair," or, "heal the world." Tikkun Olam is at the foundation of Judaism, along with "Mitzvot," which means doing good deeds.
Please post the URL so I can check out the story you mentioned.
Thanks...
Sharon

Posted by: at April 20, 2005 03:57 PM

Joe...PS...
Yowza. I had several typos and can't go back and fix them. Please forgive.
Thanks...S

Posted by: Sharon Cobb at April 20, 2005 05:30 PM

Hello Sharon and all...

Sorry about the URL.. it is www.tikkun.org published on the west coast and the editor I mentioned is Rabbi Michael Lerner. It distressed me to see this kind of thing occur so early in the game. Tikkun is supposed to be an interfaith organization dedicated to the promotion of understanding... guess not. I will definitely discontinue my receipt of that newsletter. My apologies for a sloppy post but I guess I'm not hitting on all 6 cylinders today. That's what happens when you hit 64!
Take care one and all.

Gordon

Posted by: Gordon at April 20, 2005 06:18 PM

Hello Sharon.

I would like you to read what you posted again and tell me you didnt
contidict yourself. This is not a Christian nation? Yet the
president puts his hand on the bible to swear an oath to protect our
founding fathers document. Which mentions the God of the bible how
many times. If you dont want to believe in what others believe fine
thats your right and i am in Afghanistant protecting that right at the
moment. However don't condemn a person for sharing their beliefs on a
board that is asking for opinion. Cus if you do your infringing on
thier beliefs. There is a lot of the bible we all leave out on here
because we want to sound intelectual. Well done you sounded great.
The fact of the matter is none of our opinions count not yours mine or
the medias. Only the creators does if you dont believ that than this
post is irrelevant to you. So move on. Everyones news is bias. Even
mine I am seeing nation building not what MSNBC will show you. I am
seeing good people from a desolate country have water this spring. If
I continue I am only sharing my bias opinion. All I ask is we think
what really matters and thats people. Wait only my right wing
opinion. Sorry! Jeez people do something instead of talking about
it all the time.

William

Ps all opoligies if I contiridicted myself I am human and after
reading this probably uneducated. However I sleep at night because I
see the smiles on barefoot kids faces everyday because of what I am
doing for them through that document right
now

Posted by: William at May 9, 2005 11:35 AM