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You know something big is happening when a conservative German politician stands up to the first German Pope. From the BBC 2/3/09:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the Vatican's clarifications over the readmission of a bishop who queries the Holocaust do not go far enough.
"In my opinion these clarifications are not yet sufficient," Mrs Merkel said.
Chancellor Merkel's stand regarding Ratzinger (papal play name "Benedict") is an even bigger deal than an American politician standing up to Rick Warren, which never happens. Obviously, democracy in Germany is not anywhere near as dysfunctional as it is here in the US.
Chancellor Merkel also said:
"This should not be allowed to pass without consequences," Mrs Merkel said at a news conference in Berlin.
"This is not just a matter, in my opinion, for the Christian, Catholic and Jewish communities in Germany but the Pope and the Vatican should clarify unambiguously that there can be no denial," she said.
I am not surprised by the Pope's actions in the least, but I am sure glad other world leaders have the courage to call him out. Nothing short of an apology and clarification on the Catholic Church position is certainly in order.
Good for Merkel.
Too bad American Catholics don't open their pieholes and demand this Nazi-loving pedophile steps down.
Well, the Pope reacted, but it seems pretty hollow and uncharacteristically tolerant for an organization that is generally very binary in its views of right and wrong, and pretty intolerant of what it deems to be "wrong".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7869995.stm
I understand that if he says publicly that he's changed his mind, he gets to be a practicing leader in the Church - seems a bit too easy?
Yay Merkel! Was so glad to hear about this.