Pope Ratso won't attend dinner with bush in Der Popenfuhrer's honor, White House says

[Ian David]

Pope won't break bread with Bush
Nick Juliano
Published: Friday April 11, 2008

Pontiff not attending dinner in his honor, White House says

The White House has scheduled a dinner next week in honor of Pope Benedict VXI's first visit to the United States, but one guest will be conspicuously absent from the proceedings: The Pope himself.

There are no competing events listed on the Pope's schedule, and the White House was unable to explain Benedict's absence from a dinner being held in his honor.

The pontiff will be greeted by the president and first lady upon his arrival to the US Tuesday and participate in a Rose Garden appearance and Oval Office meeting with President Bush the next day. A dinner scheduled for later Wednesday night didn't make it onto the Benedict's schedule, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said Friday.

<snip>

Benedict's schedule does not indicate any events that would conflict with his ability to attend the 7:30 p.m. dinner that Wednesday. He is just scheduled to return to the Vatican embassy in Washington at the same time after a meeting with US bishops at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

More:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Pope_wont_break_bread_with_Bush_0411.html

[babylonsister]

1. Whoa! That's a smack in the kisser! Take that! nt

[Cleita]

2. Is he the Pope who thinks Bush is the anti-Christ? Or, was it

his predecessor?

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LittleClarkie]

5. Pope John Paul was accused of peophelia? Where? Point me to your source

otherwise this is just a lot of Catholic hateration.

[Ian David]

22. J.P. was behind a vast cover-up of the pedophilia by priests.

And Ratso was in charge of implementing it.

[Drunken Irishman]

7. I find that comment really offensive.

[LittleClarkie]

12. Indeed. And I'm not even Catholic

Pope John Paul was never accused of any such thing that I recall.

[Ian David]

23. I didn't realize you'd voted for him. n/t

[niyad]

16. I do believe it was ratzo who was doing all the hidiing and ignoring of

pedophile priests.

[Ian David]

24. At the command of Pope John Pedophile, stealer of Jewish babies. n/t

[jody]

4. Your disparagement of the Pope, leader of 1.2 billion people, says a lot about your character. n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

8. Yes it does.

[AlCzervik]

6. Pope says "Nope" to a Dope.

[LittleClarkie]

10. And shouldn't he be applauded for that rather than called a Nazi?

I would think.

[Drunken Irishman]

11. Of course not! We're good at ripping Catholics here on DU.

It's the DU way. :eyes:

[LittleClarkie]

14. Well this Lutheran thinks that stinks

Bigotry is bigotry, I don't care who the target is.

[madeline_con]

27. Both, if one is so inclined. eom

[Stinky The Clown]

29. Perfect Headline

I always admired Variety headlines. Yours would be perfect!

[mitchtv]

9. Kind of like Hitler snubbing Franco

...

[antigop]

13. Ratzinger does not believe in pre-emptive war.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1727724-2,00.html

The Pope has refused to accept pre-emptive war as just, and a confidant recalls him shaking his fists and shouting "Basta!"--Enough!--back in the early days of the Iraq war.

[backscatter712]

15. Even Pope Palpatine doesn't want to be seen with Bush...

That's impressive!

[Kaleko]

17. If true, that is a significant cue to Catholics worldwide to stop supporting this administration

[Ian David]

25. I'd say that McCain's pastor John Hagee saying Catholics are following The Antichrist shouldn't help

[damntexdem]

18. Oh, the Pope probably feels awkward about sitting down at the dinner table with the ...

Antichrist. ;-)

And, after all, Cheney might also be there.

[kskiska]

19. Maybe he doesn't like hot dogs.

[Poiuyt]

28. Good one!

[Supersedeas]

20. excellent diplomacy Condi....high quality coordination af the highest offices

[MiniMe]

21. I cracked up when I heard that the commemorative metro pass is being called....

A Mass pass. :rofl: Metro does have a sense of humor.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

26. So there's hope for the old nazi after all.

Perhaps he's repenting for all his old sins?

[DemBones DemBones]

30. You should get your facts straight.

from CBS News, about Joseph Ratzinger's life:

(AP) "In May 1945, thousands of German prisoners of war trudged down the highway toward the Bavarian town of Bad Aibling. Among them — tired but grateful to be alive — was 18-year-old Joseph Ratzinger, who just days before had risked death by deserting the German army."

<snip>

"In 1941, Ratzinger, 14, and his brother, Georg, were
enrolled in the Hitler Youth when it became mandatory for all boys. Soon after, he records in his book, "The Salt of the Earth," he was let out because of his intention to study for the priesthood."

"In 1943, like many teenage boys, he was drafted as a helper for an anti-aircraft brigade, which defended a BMW plant outside Munich. Later, he dug anti-tank trenches. When he turned 18, on April 16, 1945, he was put through basic training, alongside men in their 30s and 40s, drafted as the Third Reich went through its death agony. He was stationed near his hometown — he doesn't say where — but did not see combat with the approaching U.S. troops. He deserted soon after basic training.

"At the time, he knew that the dreaded SS units would shoot a deserter on the spot — or hang him from a lamppost as a warning to others. He recorded his terror when he was stopped by other soldiers."Thank God they were ones who had had enough of war and did not want to become murderers," he wrote in his book, "Aus meinem Leben," published in English as "Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977."

He was then captured by the Americans, held in an open air camp for a few weeks, and released. He and his brother Georg went on with their plans to enter the priesthood.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/19/world/main689498.
shtml



Anyone who was under the threat of the draft during the Vietnam war knows it wasn't easy to avoid the draft then and, although most of us think that war was immoral, we don't think the men and women who served in it were immoral. Perhaps you're unaware that there are a number of Vietnam vets at DU.


To recap, Joseph Ratzinger was forced to join the army when he turned 18 on April 16, 1945, but deserted very soon after basic training, as he was already a prisoner of the American troops by May 1945. He was released on June 19.


To call Joseph Ratzinger a Nazi is grossly unfair.