1) Pope Benedict acknowledged that he was in Hitler Youth. -Joseph Ratzinger was conscripted, as were all seminary students. His name was submitted by his school. He never participated in any political activities and eventually faced a death penalty for desertion.
2)Get back to me when 1/2 the Catholic population is annihilated. - To each individual who suffered and died at the hands of the Nazis, Christian, Jew, Gypsy, Slav, and handicapped, and to their loved ones, the loss was equal. You cannot claim that the loss of a Jew is a greater tragedy than the loss of anyone else.
"Minimizing the 6 million dead Jews of the Holocaust will not earn you points on this thread, at FR or at any other reputable place."
I am minimizing nothing. I am contextualizing. In the 20th century there were 60 million killed by Mao, 20 million by Stalin, 10 million killed by Japan, 8 million killed by Hitler, 2 million Armenians killed by the Turks, 2 million Cambodians killed by Pol Pot, 1 million Tutsi Rwandans, and there are a number of smaller ones, no less tragic. If you want to expand the list beyond the 20th century we can start with Joshua's actions in the cities he conquered."
3) On Darfur, get educated. Jews are at the forefront of the Save Darfur movement. Israel actually takes in refugees. Does the Vatican? Does Rome?"
It is simply disingenuous to play up the limited actions of Israel with respect to the darfur refugees while trivializing the actions of the Catholic Church during the holocaust. The Church acted with greater compassion and greater results while taking far greater risks. There were hundreds of thousands of Catholic clergy killed in the holocaust. How many Israeli's have died in Darfur? Rome, by the way is a city in Italy. The Vatican is an office complex of approximately 100 acres.
"While I am at it, why does the Vatican have so much Judaica that rightly belongs to the Jewish people?"
Are you claiming that the artifacts were illegally obtained? Are you saying that possession of land and objects of value acquired by Israel by force are legitimate, but the historical activities of non-Jews isn't? Are you saying that the many shops that openly and legally sell Judaica can't really transfer title? Sounds to me like you are in favor of another reparations scam.
“Are you claiming that the artifacts were illegally obtained?”
Yes. Of course technically the Inquisition, Rome’s conquest of Jerusalem, the Crusades, and various and sundry state approved pogroms over centuries may have given the Pope colorable title but not moral title. Is he a legal leader or a moral one?
And I guess the Pope can shelter under diplomatic immunity.
The Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court denied on Monday a bid by Land-of-Israel activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir to obtain an order to delay the departure of Pope Benedict XVI and his party at the end of his visit to Israel. The activists had sought the order in connection with books and Temple items believed to be held in the Vatican.
The court ruled that the pope has diplomatic immunity, as do the people around him.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/164950
“Are you saying that possession of land and objects of value acquired by Israel by force are legitimate, but the historical activities of non-Jews isn’t? Are you saying that the many shops that openly and legally sell Judaica can’t really transfer title? Sounds to me like you are in favor of another reparations scam.”
The difference is that Israel fought defensive wars giving them both legal AND moral title.
“Reparations.” No. We don’t sell our heritage and our religion. These are priceless items of religious significance to Jews. We want these sacred items back. Due to the supersessionist doctrine of the Catholic Church they only have monetary value to the Vatican.
The “scam” is that the Catholic Church and its adherents mistreated the Jews for centuries for practicing their religion and yet they collected Jewish sacred texts and objects as if they esteemed Judaism.