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German Pride
If you're a German-American Catholic, here's how to have some fun with your friends: Strike up a conversation with them noting that the new pope is, in fact, German. "Now it's our time," say. And then shift into a thick, German accent: "Een fact, eet is now all goink to plannnnn." And then, if you want, you can fade off into a Boris Karloff-type of laugh.
Yes, there is a German pope but, no, there is nowhere near the level of enthusiasm from ethnic Germans as the Polish showed when Pope John Paul II was selected in 1978. Ethnic pride this time is, well, muted to say the least. For obvious and understandable reasons, it will probably take another 100 years, another two or three generations, for feelings of World War II guilt to subside and ethnic pride to re-emerge among Germans. If it ever re-emerges. As it is now, the average German was born almost 20 years after the end of World War II but sour feelings seem to remain. (Pope Benedict himself was only 14 when the war ended, but that didn't stop some predictable Nazi smearing from the usual suspects.) Oh sure, there have been a few scattered, somewhat obligatory news stories on "German Pride," including this one from the Philadelphia Daily News which went about as far out on a limb as it could with this sentence: "German Catholics in the city were particularly pleased." Pleased, perhaps. Cheering in the square, well, no. (Can you even imagine if an Irish pope was elected?) By Ed Moltzen · 25 April 2005
Pope Spam?
Pope Benedict the 16th now has an email address. Would you want to spam "God's Rottweiler?" By Ed Moltzen · 21 April 2005
B 16 +1
Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his first mass as leader of his church's 1.1 billion Catholics, and, according to this report from Fox News: In a message read in Latin at the end of the service, the pontiff pledged to continue the liberalizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council and to work to unify all Christians, as he outlined goals following an election that sent a signal the church was intent on sticking to tradition as it confronts 21st-century problems. So fears that Benedict would turn back the clock to the 12th century may have to be put on hold for just a little while. MORE: Well, it didn't take Maureen Dowd long: The white smoke yesterday signaled that the Vatican thinks what it needs to bring it into modernity is the oldest pope since the 18th century: Joseph Ratzinger, a 78-year-old hidebound archconservative who ran the office that used to be called the Inquisition and who once belonged to Hitler Youth. For American Catholics - especially women and Democratic pro-choice Catholic pols - the cafeteria is officially closed. After all, Cardinal Ratzinger, nicknamed "God's Rottweiler" and "the Enforcer," helped deny Communion rights to John Kerry and other Catholic politicians in the 2004 election. There you have it: Ageism, anti-Catholic bigotry and Nazi-smearing all wrapped neatly into one paragraph. She's nothing if not efficient. MORE: Donald Luskin offers up a list of 10 things the new pope won't do, including: The requirement that an actual belief in Christ is required to be a Christian is deemed discriminatory and judgmental; churches will offer alternative methods of qualification, such as "celebrating the magical joy of a baby's smile" or "just sitting in the park, thinkin' about Nature and s***" By Ed Moltzen · 20 April 2005
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