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April 24, 2005

Revisiting Ratzinger

A few days ago, I wrote what I figured would be my only post on the ascention of the new Pope.

I guess I lied.

Several commentors took exception to my post, saying I should lay off the "Hitler Youth" situation. Apparently there are those who read my post as a condemnation of Ratzinger's past. On the contrary, that's not at all what I'm doing.

What I attempted to do was to note what I believe to be Ratzinger's lack of personal responsibility for his past actions. Over at Body and Soul, Jeanne pixels what I was trying to say by very deftly comparing Ratzinger to Archbishop Romero.

Jeanne writes:

Reading about Romero, I began to realize why this issue is so important to me, why I can't let the issue of Ratzinger's past go. It's not that I can't forgive a child soldier for what he did. It's that I can't forgive an old man for justifying his conduct by insisting that a person has no choice but to submit to brutal power.

This is what's bothered me as well. It's the justification, not taking responsibility and owning it, that bothers me.

Another excerpt from comments from Matty:

If we could get a moment of candor from W (not to mention your average religious conservative or a run-of-the-mill televangelist like Pat Robertson or Franklin Graham), they'd probably espouse an intense dislike of Catholicism. They think all of us, even a lapsed Catholic like me, are going to burn in hell.

Hey Matty..your wish is their command.

Posted by Carla at April 24, 2005 05:46 PM