Franco's Pope

One can try to forget that Joseph Ratzinger, the current Pope, volunteered to be part of Hitler's Youth.

One can try to forget that Herr Ratzinger was head of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith for a long time.

But then he goes and reminds us that during his lifetime he managed to be part of not one but two of humankind's most hated organizations, the Nazis and the Inquisition.

But what did he do this time?

Well, not an easy task, following on the steps of one of his predecessors (one by the name of Eugenio Pacelli) he validated Francisco Franco's regime.

How did he do it?

Quite easy actually, he beatified 498 priests and nuns who died during Franco's uprising.

But what is the problem with that?

Let me explain, those 498 priests and nuns were killed by the Republican forces for those religious fellas decided to side with Franco's rebels. The problem being that Franco's side murdered as many priests and nuns, only that those were killed for not siding with Franco.

You still don't get it?

Ratzinger refused to beatify those killed by Franco, in doing so, he validated Franco's regime, just like Eugenio Pacelli did back when he was pope.

Times On Line covers the aftermath of Ratzinger's most recent act as a man who leans towards authoritarian views.

Here it is:

October 29, 2007

Fight at church as Pope begins sainthood for Franco’s clergy

Fighting broke out outside a church in Rome yesterday after the Pope beatified 498 priests and nuns killed in the Spanish Civil War.

Members of the congregation attacked left-wing protesters carrying a banner that read: “Those who have killed, tortured and exploited cannot be beatified.”

Around 30 people tore the banner to pieces along with a large reproduction of Picasso’s Guernica, the depiction of the bombing of a Basque town carried out by Franco’s side.

Italian police arrested seven people and impounded a van that protesters had used to film the fighting.

In a speech to 30,000 – mainly Spanish – pilgrims in St Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to the “martyrs” of the 1936-39 war and put them on the path to sainthood. “Their words and gestures of forgiveness towards their persecutors should enable us to work towards reconciliation and peaceful coexistence,” he said.

The Roman Catholic Church largely supported Franco during the war and its aftermath. Critics said it was again choosing sides by honouring victims on only one side and that the Pope should have recognised the Church’s role in supporting a fascist dictator who killed untold thousands and overthrew a democratically elected government.

Spain’s Association for Historical Memory, which is exhuming mass graves of those killed on the Republican side to give them a proper burial: said: “As long as the Church accepts only its role as victim and not executioner, it will simply be contributing to . . . the partisan use of the past.”

The country’s Socialist Government has clashed repeatedly with the Roman Catholic Church. The Prime Minister, José Luis RodrÍguez Zapatero, whose grandfather was executed by Franco’s forces, has caused howls of protest from conservatives after introducing a law aimed at redressing the injustices suffered by victims of the regime. Among other measures, the law orders the removal of any symbols of the dictatorship, which arguably include the shrines in many Spanish churches to the dead on Franco’s side. Republican victims still lie in dozens of unmarked mass graves around the country.

On this occasion, however, the Government and the Vatican have striven to avoid confrontation. The Government sent its Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, to lead the Spanish delegation at the ceremony.

So, who was the head of that Roman Catholic Church that largely supported Franco?

You read his name but maybe it did not ring any bells. His name was Eugenio Pacelli, none other that Hitler's pope, Pius XII.

So no matter what a religious fundamentalist (Rychlak) from Mississippi nor a Zionist (Dalin) trying to gain the favor of the ultra conservative camp in different countries have to say, the fact is, lead by backward minded thugs like Pacelli and Ratzinger, the Roman Catholic Church has a penchant for siding with infamous world tyrants like Franco, Mussolini and Hitler.

Now, how sad can it be that Spain, a country lead by a Socialist government that brags about being the political heirs to the Republic destroyed by Franco sent a representative to Rome to assist to the ceremony. That can tell you just to what extent José Luis Rodríguez is willing to go to betray the Spaniards.

~ ~ ~