The Pope was recruited into the Hitler Youth Program, isn't this a testimony of the Pope's spiritual weakness?

Question

I imagine that such a prominent Spiritual Leader would've had to display Courage and Strength at even such a young age, or at least have been able to stand up for what he thought was right.

As for those who will ask me if I would've defied the Nazi regime; To that I say I'm not running for Pope.

to Huh:
Care to elaborate?

to Huh:
Pulling information out of Wikipedia is the equivelent of pulling facts out of your ****.

to Funnel:
You're missing the point: such a prominent spiritual leader should've been above that...

general:
Look, I know my history. I know the Nazis operated as a Fascist government. I know how people labelled as miscreants by the government were persecuted, big-time.
I'm not that stupid as to assume that things were jolly in Germany back then.

But my point is, child or not, someone whom concedes to such an Empire is just another chum, just another slob like you or me. The current pope is nothing special, except for his supposed virtue of denying scientific fact or logic.

Answer 1

As a teenager and young man, Pope Benedict XVI was drafted into the Hitler Youth and the Nazi German Army just like every other non-Jewish German male. He was not given a choice.

The Pope is not and never has been a Nazi. He unfortunately was born and grew up in a country ruled by the Nazi party.

Every draftee into the Hitler Youth and the Nazi German Army was not a Nazi.

Thank God that you and I live in a very different world that the Pope did in 1930s and 1940s Germany. Or do we?

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

I have been hearing alot about this lately. I still have seen no actual documents on this so I will have to go on pure speculation on my part(thou please send me a website or documents that have reported this and I am glad to read them and revise my view). At the time Hitler was not a man that people could just say no to. Those who opposted him usually ended up dead along with thier family. Not saying that what the now Pope did was right(believe me you would be hard pressed to find a bigger critic of the man) but he was just a child right? A child can not be expected to make such a choice. You also have to remember it was another time and place back then. Children where taught to obey their elders without question. It was not like the children now a days who do whatever they want whenever they want.
Again, send me the websites where the facts are listed and I will study them and if I feel like I was wrong I will change my stance but for now this is how I see it.

Answer 3

He didn't run for the Pope position in the Church ^^.When the head of the Catholic Church passes on or steps down from that position. Election of the pope is by the college of cardinals meeting in secret conclave in the Sistine Chapel not less than 15 nor more than 18 days after the death of the previous pontiff. The election is by secret ballot.The new Pope is elected and the world is given the signal.

He really is not a testimony of any type of Spiritual weakness?He is very strong spiritually he was able to keep his faith in God.He did not defy mans law which would have been to defy God.He did what he was told to do. He did not have the hindsight that he was going to be pope or a bishop if he did he would have been considered a HUGE hero to many not just the catholic people but to many,many Christians and Jews. He was I think it was 14 years old.

Lets for a moment try just try to walk a mile in the shoes of any of the Hitler YOUTH. (that is the key word here youth). It is hard for one to imagine the detrimental state that the Nazi regime had over its people. It was a mandatory for all to be in the regime. Hard to imagine given so much freedom in other countries that we see today. He was a young boy dear the age of 14 and he did what he could to resist the movement. He missed many meetings and such. He was not a model to follow in the eyes of the program. He was a rebel that in its self account for allot as the type of character he has. But in his part of the country resistance was futile and it isn't like you imagine. It is important to really understand the state of war.

After March 1939 every child above ten up to eighteen was forced to join. If you did not join your parents could be arrested, fined, and some even put to death if you refused.After a letter was sent they would knock on your door sometimes everyday at different times to make sure you were not saying mistrusted. Yes it is true some people sloped threw the cracks but he and his family were not so lucky.

He was a victim of the regime. It is hard to imagine to have your self becoming completely dominated.

I would like to ask you. Do You think I would have let them kill your mom and dad. Your mom and dad would have handed you over to them as well.It is sooo easy to say Well he should have and I would have done nothing. You would have been hung on the nearest lamp post for all to see. Scare tactics,humiliation, your parents getting pistol whipped because of you or worse murdered in front of you. I seriously wonder if you even understand the complexity of the war. This was a war of Hate.

And just so you do know.He did resist he did not stand by and become brainwashed. He seems to have had a very deep religious belive in God. It is not realistic to even think that He could have resisted.But he may have he has not talked about this very much to the public.

For you to ask this question it seems as if you think he had the hindsight that he was going to be a bishop. Your question is totally unrealistic when you look at the times.Again, if he did have the hindsight as you are sujesting.He would have been a Hero.

It is a good question but needless to say it does not seem you have not studied about Either the Catholic Church or anything about the war of Hate WWII. I hope this gave you some insight on the situation. I am happy you are seeking answers to your questions. Keep seeking,learning, and discovering.
All my Best,
Your sister in Christ

Answer 4

Maybe he was not very strong spiritually as a 14 year old boy, but people grow and become spiritually stronger. For example, look at St. paul. The change in the Pope from a 14 year old youth to the man he is now is FAR less dramatic than the change of St. Paul.

By frequently receiving the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation, a person grows with the grace of God.

Answer 5

Not at all. He was a whoppin 14yrs old...

At age, 14 membership in Germany's "Hitler Youth" became mandatory. So Joseph Ratzinger enrolled
He managed to get out early so he could study for the priesthood.
Two years later, when he was 16, Ratzinger was drafted again by the German Army.
Ratzinger worked as a helper in an anti-aircraft briagde.
In 1945, he was put through basic training and stationed near his hometown in Bavaria.
When Allied forces advanced, he deserted the German army — risking death by that act alone.
After he escaped, Ratzinger was captured by American soldiers and spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp.

His father's criticism of the Nazis forced the family to move four times.

Answer 6

No.
And sounds like you pulled your question out of your a**.

Do you have the courage and strength to defy the lobster fishermen or are you just going to wind up on someone's plate with a load of butter dripping down your *** instead of joining the lobster resistance?

Yeah like at 14 you knew all about courage and spiritual strength.

Following his fourteenth birthday in 1941, Ratzinger was enrolled, not recruited in the Hitler Youth — membership being legally required after December 1939, but was an unenthusiastic member and refused to attend meetings. His father was a bitter enemy of Nazism, believing it conflicted with the Catholic faith. In 1943 while still in seminary, he was drafted at age 16 into the German anti-aircraft corps. Ratzinger then trained in the German infantry, but a subsequent illness precluded him from the usual rigours of military duty. As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he deserted back to his family's home in Traunstein after his unit had ceased to exist, just as American troops established their headquarters in the Ratzinger household. As a German soldier, he was put in a POW camp but was released a few months later at the end of the War in summer 1945. He reentered the seminary, along with his brother Georg, in November of that year.

Enough elaboration for you? Wikipedia isn't the only place that information is available at.

Answer 7

Ratzinger was a NAZI, and an enthusiastic one, he is still a NAZI. A closet NAZI, if you will. He is only a symbol, true a symbol of the most repressive and oppressive organization of earth, the Catholic Church, and thankfully, he has no actual power. His only real power is the power of superstition, however he uses these superstitions to bring about even further repressive and oppressive measures. I am very glad that I am NOT a Catholic.

Answer 8

Its a testimony to his strength to rise above the brainwashing he recieved as a child. Do you think it was like joining the fricking boy scouts. It was forced on impressionable German youths who were force fed nazi propaganda and kept from the truth, much the same as terrorists nations today, yet he still managed to find his faith. You seem to think he was just born the Pope and joined the nazi @zzh0les.

Answer 9

He did later realise that he had made a wrong choice; about the same time as the Nazis realised they had lost the war !

Answer 10

Are you telling every US citizen should refuse to go to Iraq? They have all been educated with the ideas of democracy and freedom.