I'll take a secular society that promotes the life and health of its people any day over the tyrannical, brutal and cruel regime of theistic hierarchs condemning and demeaning the innocent on the basis of their theology -- Christian or Muslim, for that matter.

Ratzinger should be aware that Nazism was not intrinsically atheistic, but rather polytheistic, drawing heavily on the "Northern Religion" that also nourished the imagination of R Wagner and JRR Tolkien. Religion is morally neutral -- it's what you do with it that counts.

Tell me again why he should be lecturing anyone in that tone of voice!

Pope Benedict XVI seems to be a master of overstatement and understatement: overstatement when it comes to criticizing secularism and humanism; understatement when it comes to addressing clergy sexual abuse and defending innocent victims in his own church. It's an unhealthy and sordid combination that does nobody any good.

He and like-minded folks never acknowledge the elephant in the room: that atheism, secularism and humanism aren't some bogeymen who force their way into the house, but fill a vacuum left when Christians, by and large, do not live out the teachings and ethics of Jesus Christ. Might Marxism not have seemed attractive to so many if Christians made a lifestyle and a priority out of feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, caring for the sick, visiting the jailed, standing up for the victimized, welcoming the stranger, showing mercy to the sinful, and loving God and neighbor above self, as Jesus taught? The failure to do so is what robs the gospel of its appeal in the eyes of many. Marxism would have nothing to address if Christianity were practiced on a wide scale in everyday life in society.

Why should anyone believe in, much less join and follow, a church that always seems more interested in coming down on the side of power and prestige, while kicking the victimized and the marginalized to the curb -- not only ignoring, but even trying to muffle, their cries? It's an honest question. If Christianity seems to be ailing and failing and shrinking in the world, the blame lies at least in substantial part with those who profess to be Christians, but don't practice what they preach -- living, in fact, as self-interested "functional atheists," no matter what religious label they apply to themselves. The words of Saint John Chrysostom, that golden-mouthed bishop and preacher of ancient Constantinople, ring just as true today as they did back in the fourth century:

"We who are disciples of Christ claim that our purpose on earth is to lay up treasures in heaven. But our actions often belie our words. Many Christians build for themselves fine houses, lay out splendid gardens, construct bathhouses and buy fields. It is small wonder, then, that many pagans refuse to believe what we say. "If their eyes are set on mansions in heaven," they ask, "why are they building mansions on earth? If they put their words into practice, they would give away their riches and live in simple huts." So these pagans conclude that we do not sincerely believe in the religion we profess; and as a result they refuse to take this religion seriously. You may say that the words of Christ on these matters are too hard for you to follow; and that while your spirit is willing, your flesh is weak. My answer is that the judgment of the pagans about you is more accurate than your judgement of yourself. When the pagans accuse us of hypocrisy, many of us should plead guilty."

Pope Benedict ought to reflect on those words. Might not the worst enemy of Christianity be Christians who don't live up to being Christlike?

Gregory Orloff

The original article shows a photo of B-16 and QE2. Notice the facial expression of her maj in the picture. Five will get you ten that Elizabeth our Queen (I'm Canadian) is thinking to herself "We are not amused!"

Himmler and lesser Nazis may have claimed to worship Thor, Odin and whatnot. But apart from his passion for Wagner, there is no evidence that Hitler practiced any religion of any kind.

So now we know that Godwin's law applies to Pontiffs as well as netkooks on the intarwebs.

Thank you so much for that lesson, Pope Benedict.

Hitler was Austrian-born, yes? The product of a predominantly Roman Catholic part of the Teutonic world. Bavarian. Educated in a Catholic school in Lambach. Perhaps Mr. Ratzinger could ask why Catholicism makes National Socialism and Marxism seem so very much more appealing.

Just when you think Papa-Ratzi CAN'T go any lower, he finds a way!

JC Fisher

Thank you, Tobias. Very well put. Much more coherent than the sputtering that would have come from my keyboard.

Pam Alger

Susan, pontificating comes with the job description. ;-(

Christopher, I wasn't speaking about Hitler per se, but of the Nazi party.

As a matter of fact, however, Hitler served as Supreme Pontiff (and Messiah) of the Nazi cult, and used some of the recollections from his Roman Catholic upbringing to craft liturgies that became part of the rite. One example is the Blood Banner ritual; which draws on the Roman Catholic custom of the generation (IIRC) of third-class relics by "infection." It may well be that AH was cynical in all of this, but he knew the power of symbolism and ritual, and employed it enthusiastically. (There have also been cynical leaders of other religions, I might add.)

The transition from mere High Priest to Messiah came fairly quickly. There is a HJ hymn which claims that "Hitler is our Savior." The child Ratzinger may even have sung it.

More on Nazi Christian link