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Originally Posted by Chris
Having listened to that speech in full, as it was made, I think the accent was on extremism rather than Nazism. He used that as it's an obvious example from his own personal experience. Believe me, I'm no fan of the office held by Joseph Ratzinger, but fair's fair, when it comes to Nazis he knows what he's talking about (and no, I'm not poking fun at his membership of the Hitler Youth, quite the opposite).
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Possibly. That doesn't make it a particular smart thing to say. I posted about the outcry over Redinger's remarks earlier for a reason. What the Pope said isn't that far removed from what Reding said. Reding didn't say the French were Nazis either. From memory, She said something along the lines of: I'd have thought this type of thing wouldn't happen after WW2. The French were up in arms about that. But when it comes from the Pope it's ok?
It appears that this Pope, being the academic that he is, has a knack for being completely oblivious about how his theoretical/theological reasoning will be understood outside the narrow confines of academia. That's not just my personal opinion, I've heard it said several times on a catholic radio show that I happen to catch once in a while.
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It so happens that Nazi extremism was fuelled by an extremist atheistic worldview. What would be more interesting would be an acknowledgement from Herr Ratzinger of the pain caused by Romish extremism, such as the Inquisition (whose successor organisation he was head of prior to being elected to the office of Bishop of Rome).
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If memory serves me correctly, the Vatican wasn't exactly outspoken in its condemnation of the Nazi regime either? It seems a bit rich to claim the moral high ground in this respect, as the theist/catholic morals apparently didn't make them take a stand against the Nazis either?