Tuesday, April 19, 2005

No Comment

Palp

10 comments:

Jess said...

I think this is a little mean... to Emperor Palpatine.

Nice to have a Pope who was in the Hitler Youth and the Nazi German army. Yes, yes. He didn't want to. Okay, sure. Amazing what a good biographer can write.

Anthony said...

Not the ideal choice, granted, though not exactly surprising: all but two of the cardinals (if I remember rightly) were chosen by John Paul II, so it's only to be expected they should carry on his legacy.

That said, Benedict XVI strikes me as being more of an interim pope than anything else. He's no spring chicken.

Andy said...

I said I wouldn't comment, but I will. I have known a couple of German men in that age range who were very nice, very good people, who regretted tremendously their involvement in the Hitler Youth, but insisted to me that at that point in time, dissent simply wasn't safe. Either you joined up, or you disappeared. Still, one might hope that a man destined to be the head of the Catholic Church would have chosen the high road instead of the safe road. On the other hand, Christ's mercy is boundless, so perhaps that error has been forgiven, and it is not up to us to hold it against him. I will say I'm disappointed that we've got a Pope whose anti-gay rhetoric is even more acerbic than JPII.

Andy said...

Further clarification: membership in the Hitler Youth became mandatory in 1941; following that, the young Ratzinger was drafted into the German army, from which he later deserted.

Anonymous said...

I heard that Ratzinger will be even more adamant in his conservative position re-gay guys. That seems to be bad news for us.

SailRacer said...

Very bad Ritchie. Thankfully, the Catholic church has little bearing on my life. However, another whole generation of cute little gay catholics are going to be lambasted and made to feel ashamed undoubtedly causing horrible esteem problems. The whole cultural phenomenon surrounding this inconic institution creates such self-torture (and outward torture) for gay catholics.

Anonymous said...

Houston we have a problem.....
If the Catholics don't approve of homosexuality then don't be Catholic. Who cares what they say. This is where I think the gay rights movement loses momentum. Instead of moving on you push and push for acceptance from the Catholic Church. They aren't an American institution or government funded institution. So let it go. Whenever I see things about this I ask myself why is it that important? You don't see any minorities trying to join the KKK. You aren't going to change the doctrine unless for some Apocolyptic reason the American Catholic churches split from the Roman Catholic Churches.

Anonymous said...

Toby (and others)

Much to my dismay, the Catholic church does have a bearing on my life. My brothers are practising Catholics and so is my Mom. So, I am concerned.

I'm not trying to force the Catholic church to accept me as a gay Catholic man, but I do have close relationships with practising Catholics who know I am gay and accept me for who I am. So, I kind of worry a bit about Ratzinger's anti-gay discourse.

All that said, on a totally unrelated topic (and sorry Andy if I make you blush) JF - you have a very, very handsome son :o) congrats!

Andy said...

Richie: never trust a jpeg.

Anonymous said...

Andy,

Your sense of humour is fantastic!

By the way, did you know my Mom was a school-trained soprano de coloratura? She was an amazing singer (smoking can damage your lungs AND deteriorate your voice BTW).

I grew up listening to arias :o)