Christian Fundamentals
German Catholic parliamentarians are strongly rejecting the sharp criticism of the German Pope's decision to lift the excommunication of a prominent holocaust denier. "The Pope knows what he is doing", explains Norbert Geis, member of the German Bundestag (CSU): "He cannot be accused of being a proponent of the holocaust."[1] After Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Benedict XVI, Bernd Posselt, member of the European parliament (CSU) is demanding that she "stop behaving like the Pope's school mistress," and rather try to accentuate "Christian values inside the Berlin coalition government."[2] „Many CDU members do not agree with Merkel's statements," says Georg Brunnhuber, the chairman of the CDU group in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg. The Vatican is "really appalled at the discussion in Germany" and "has the impression that subterranean "anti-Catholic resentments are now beginning to surface in Germany."[3]
Re-Christianization
The wide-ranging public criticism of the German Pope's most recent measures distracts from the fact that his policies have always received approbation in the Federal Republic of Germany. Benedict XVI seeks the "re-Christianization" of 'Europe. Years before his pontification, he had already announced his "Idea of Empire" [4] - a concept that even the German chancellery sees as a "functional model for a supra-national order" that is worth discussing.[5] In accordance with the Vatican's demand, the German government has stubbornly attempted to impose a "reference to God" in the EU Constitution Treaty draft and later in the Lisbon Treaty, but was overruled by secular opposition, particularly from Paris.[6] The Vatican is totally supportive of the subdivision of Europe along the lines of the German "Volkstumspolitik" (ethnic policy) principles, which includes not only the regions inhabited by German speaking minorities throughout Europe, but also the German-initiated parceling of Southern Europe (german-foreign-policy.com reported [7]).
Minister Under Franco
For the implementation of his plans for the "re-Christianization" of Europe, Benedict XVI is working together with powerful organizations, from the reactionary wing of the Catholic Church. As their objective, they see the rollback of modern influence within the church, particularly the systematic elimination of the liberation theology and even liberal forms of Catholicism. In the eyes of the Pope, their rejection of modernity has predestined these organizations to be combat troops against Christianity's adaptation and absorption into the modern world. Particularly Opus Dei is included among these organizations. With nearly 90,000 members, it is one of the most influential inner-church pressure groups. Opus Dei was founded in 1928 by the Spanish priest Josemaria Escrivá. Escrivá was later close to the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, in whose government Opus Dei had for a while four ministers.
"Not That Bad"
The Opus Dei's proximity to Franco, had already conditioned its relatively close relations to Berlin in the early 1940s. It was reported that all of the male members of the organization "volunteered to serve in the 'Blue Division'."[8] The "Blue Division" was a unit of Spanish volunteers, who fought, under Wehrmacht command, on the German East Front in its war of annihilation against the Soviet Union. Opus Dei 's founder Escrivá later recounted to another organization member that he had viewed "Nazi Germany as a crusade against Communism." The member reported that Escrivá had told him, "they are exaggerating, when they claim that Hitler killed six million Jews. Hitler was not that bad. He couldn't have killed more than three or four million Jews."[9]
Meteoric Rise
The publicist Peter Hertel, one of the most prolific critics of Opus Dei, exposed in great detail, how Joseph Ratzinger, after an initial coolness, began to draw closer to Opus Dei already as a cardinal of the Roman Curia. As Pope, he, as did his predecessor, continued a close cooperation with that organization. According to Hertel, the number of Opus Dei members, who were designated to high office by the head of the Catholic Church personally is drastically increasing. In the meantime, every fourteenth Opus Dei priest has been appointed to "an office or bestowed a title by the Pope." In 1990 it was but one in a hundred.[10] Hertel sees the organization's rise as "meteoric".
Anti-Semitism
The rehabilitation of Catholic principles of faith, generally considered as anti-Jewish, which had been suppressed decades ago, is part of this development. These principles are fostering Catholic anti-Semitism. For example the German Pope has reauthorized a liturgy ascribing to Judaism a lower status than that of Christianity. This is considered a prerequisite for the reentry into the Catholic Church of the Society of Saint Pius X. The scandal erupted, when Pope Benedict XVI, in lifting the excommunication of its bishops, opened the way also for a holocaust denier to return to the fold. Ratzinger has been criticized, for quite some time, for his remarks belittling anti-Semitism. For example, during his visit to the Auschwitz Memorial in Mai 2006, he explained that the Nazi mass murder, carried out with the direct or indirect participation of millions of Germans, was solely the responsibility of a "band of criminals", that had "used and abused" the German people.[11] The Vatican is currently preparing the beatification of Pope Pius XII. Pius XII, who had formerly served as papal nuncio in Germany and, as Pope, remained in amicable contact with Berlin, had remained silent about the holocaust, even though he knew details of the Nazi-extermination practices.
Subventions
In Germany, strong criticism of Bendict XVI only began, when he lifted the excommunication of the holocaust denier. But even this tardy criticism is being contested, as can be seen by recent reactions of Catholic parliamentarians. The advance of papal combat troops, such as Opus Dei, is even being financed by the German government. Over the past ten years, a foundation under Opus Dei's control ("Rhein-Donau-Stiftung") received 1.5 million Euros from the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The amount of the subventions is rising: in 2008 alone, this organization was granted over 300.000 Euros. Among the beneficiaries is an Argentinean school for nurses,[12] who, according to the project description, must be "ethically and religiously educated and faithful". This subvention was no mistake, according to a statement by the German government, dated December 23, 2008. The Rhein-Donau Foundation's president, the parliamentarian Norbert Geis, is a member of the Bundestag Committee for Economic Cooperation. He qualified Chancellor Merkel's criticism of the papal care for a holocaust denier "a mistake".[13]
