A German national, writing an op-ed piece in the IHT:
"I walked into a courthouse and divorced myself from the Catholic Church. That is what you have to do as a German if you want to leave the church.
I was waiting for the pope to hold me back. I was waiting for him to tell me that it never should have happened. I was waiting for him to correct his mistake. But he kept me waiting.
When I first heard that the pope had welcomed a once-excommunicated bishop who denies the Holocaust back into the church, I didn't believe it. I thought that the truth was probably more complicated.
I respected Pope Benedict XVI. As strongly as I disagreed with him on many issues, I admired his intellect. As a German, I felt a certain pride that such a thoughtful, humble man had become the leader of the church to which I belonged.
And then he lost me. The man he had virtually absolved, Bishop Richard Williamson, was known to be a notorious denier of the Holocaust."
Continue reading here.
Meanwhile, the IHT also reports that Jewish leaders have now met with the Pope - who today described Holocaust denial as "intolerable". Strange word, and description, of a monumental crime against humanity.
"I walked into a courthouse and divorced myself from the Catholic Church. That is what you have to do as a German if you want to leave the church.
I was waiting for the pope to hold me back. I was waiting for him to tell me that it never should have happened. I was waiting for him to correct his mistake. But he kept me waiting.
When I first heard that the pope had welcomed a once-excommunicated bishop who denies the Holocaust back into the church, I didn't believe it. I thought that the truth was probably more complicated.
I respected Pope Benedict XVI. As strongly as I disagreed with him on many issues, I admired his intellect. As a German, I felt a certain pride that such a thoughtful, humble man had become the leader of the church to which I belonged.
And then he lost me. The man he had virtually absolved, Bishop Richard Williamson, was known to be a notorious denier of the Holocaust."
Continue reading here.
Meanwhile, the IHT also reports that Jewish leaders have now met with the Pope - who today described Holocaust denial as "intolerable". Strange word, and description, of a monumental crime against humanity.
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