Holocaust-era Pope on road to sainthood

A commemorative mass held in Rome to celebrate the life and works of Pope Pius XII contained a invitation to believers to pray for the beatification of this alleged Nazi collaborator.

Source: Deutsche Welle


When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Martin Niemöller...

Tis a sad day indeed for the credibility of the Catholic Church.

Why is this poem quoted a hundred times on this board, even when it is completely unrelated to the topic of discussion.

Source: Wiki

The Catholic Church's response to accusations of a similiar lack of probity on the behalf of Pope Pius XII is still not only denial, but in this case, an attempt to venerate such shoddy behaviour.

Two men of faith, two different responses to the consequences of their actions within the context of the atrocities of the Nazi regime.

Hope that helps

why post about a topic you obvoiusly don't understand, matajari?

A bit of info in this thread:

Current Pope defends his World War II predecessor, He says no effort was spared trying to save Jews

Thanks for that Bipa

I think that PAS's point about the lack of evidence provided by the Catholic Church in terms of the late Pontif's personal regret is still significant though.

There is a diference, however, between hypothetically saying that he was not intrinsically a bad man in difficult times and an the bestowal of an actual Sainthood though IMHO.

Did you really expect anything different?

@ matajari - One hundred times exactly, or more like three?

The Catholic church has credibility? Blimey, that's news to me!

Good point Mr Hausen. My phrasing implies that there was something to loose in the first place. How tautological of you. I don't suppose that you have considered a career in the priesthood?

I must confess that my own perspective on this matter has been clouded by repeat viewings of Star Wars

Being a Catholic (Eastern Rite) but not Roman Catholic, I have a lot of issues with the Pope anyway. I myself question whether Pope Pius XII really had what it takes to be considered a real saint. I also really don't like the thought of the last Pope being made a saint, either. It seems that the whole thing has become very politicised within the Church, especially with the last few Popes taking away full sainthood status from several of my favourites like St. Nicholas and St. Christopher to name a couple of the many saints who have been demoted in the last century. A whole bunch were wiped out in 1969. Then there's the weird story of St. George who was canonized a saint in 494. He got demoted to a minor third class saint in 1963, but was again promoted in 2000. Really strange.

At least St. Hubert is still around. He is credited with developing the bloodhound and is the Patron Saint of dogs

Perhaps a better candidate for sainthood would be Bernard Lichtenberg.

In the Nazi era, he consistently asked his flock in St Hedwig's Catholic Cathedral, Berlin, to remember their unfortunate Jewish brethren in their prayers.

He was carted off to prison and refused to recant, was beaten up, and died on his way to a concentration camp.

Does Allershausen strike you as a kiddy-fiddler? I never picked up on that vibe.

woof.

I was seeing him more in a management position rather than just your run off the mill village pervert / upstanding pillar of the local community (delete as appropriate). I believe that they get prettier dresses and Dolce and Gabanna shoes.

More of a Bishop Brennan than a Father Ted I suppose.