During WW2 Ratzinger was part of the Hitler youth movement and there is evidence that he covered up sexual abuse by the clergy.The Catholic Church aided the escape of Nazis so they would not face trial for their crimes.

It seems that the nearer you get to god less morality and compassion
is needed.

Arjay,

>>During WW2 Ratzinger was part of the Hitler youth movement<<

Following his 14th birthday in 1941, Ratzinger was conscripted into the Hitler Youth—as membership was required by law for all 14-year-old German boys after December 1939, see e.g. Evans, Richard J. (2005). The Third Reich in Power. Penguin Books. p. 272.
(I myself was similarly forced to enlist in a “Stalin Youth” (Komsomol!) at that age, and so were then all of our age)

>>The Catholic Church aided the escape of Nazis so they would not face trial for their crimes.<<

Even if this were happening, it would be 1945, and the 18 years old Ratzinger could hardly have been complicitin any decisive way

I think, also your third accusation stands on similarly shaky ground

Hi George,

Thanks for that. The Pope is very insightful.

Well, as you know, there has always been anti Catholic mindset in the world. I touched on this in a previous post. In Australia, it has probably been occurring since settlement. At least in my father's time, he'd tell me jobs advertising "No Catholics allowed". My father was in the police force and they had secret handshakes between the Masons and Catholics so people would know their backgrounds. And that's why many Catholics sought employment in the Public Service for equal opportunity. The other week, my sister who once worked in the public service mentioned a very popular man among staff working in the agricultural department and wondered why he never rose in the ranks, and she was told by someone that it is because he is Catholic, ie. there was a hidden policy in place.

I also brought up in a previous post, Rerum Novarum - that espoused is social justice for the workers and the dignity they deserve, and how all classes of people should co-operate harmoniously. The ethos was Egalitarianism. Hence, now we have extreme Capitalism who treat their employees like slaves. Believe me, I work in the Public Service. Protestant work ethic? Discouragement of creativity? J.R.R.Tolkien took to task the effects of the Industrial Revolution. Why now is there so much popularity with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I'd say people are fed up and looking for answers and inspiration. Tolkien was a devout Catholic.

Have you ever heard of Bella Dodd? She is an ex-communist Italian American who reckons there has been communist infiltration in the Vatican. She returned to the faith after total disillusionment with the Communist Party. I don't know, but I do find it tres interesting.

Am I deluded?

Arjay,

>>During WW2 Ratzinger was part of the Hitler youth movement<<

Following his 14th birthday in 1941, Ratzinger was conscripted into the Hitler Youth—as membership was required by law for all 14-year-old German boys after December 1939, see e.g. Evans, Richard J. (2005). The Third Reich in Power. Penguin Books. p. 272.
(I myself was similarly forced lo enlist in a “Stalin Youth” (Komsomol!) at that age, and so were then all of our age)

>>The Catholic Church aided the escape of Nazis so they would not face trial for their crimes.<<

Even if this were happening, it would be 1945, and the 18 years old Ratzinger could hardly have been complicitin anu decisive way.

I think, also your third accusation stands on similarly shaky ground

George you are right about Ratzinger being only 8 in 1936 when Hitler
made joining of the Hitler youth movement compulsory,the article I referenced in the UK Guardian must have some substance.

I was raised in the Catholic system in the 1960's and thus have a inside knowledege of what really happened.There were good and bad but the hierarchy in my view are totally corrupt.

A fish rots from the head down.

Arjay,
>> I was raised in the Catholic system in the 1960's and thus have a inside knowledge of what really happened.<<

I can understand that. We all have had our personal experiences with this or that system (I was raised in an atheist - the Stalinist version - system, and the persecuted Church was often our only consolation and link to Western culture and the "free world").

Nevertheless, some Catholics believe that the Church can be a - better than what you experienced in the 1960s - guide to what is good and what bad. Others believe that the society will function better if it pushes the Church completely aside, if not worse, ignoring or even contravening what it has been TEACHING about good and bad throughout centuries. (Let me haste to add that I am well aware of its often “corrupt” PRAXIS, and the fact that today, even where not “corrupt”, this PRAXIS is badly lagging behind the times)

Only future will tell, which one of these two beliefs is more realistic.

>>A fish rots from the head down.<<
This is an understandable, emotional not factual, reaction to your experience from the 1960s; at that time the present Pope was one of the young enthusiasts of Vatican II, no head of anything.