Chapter Thirty-Three/Judging the Infamous Harlot -Modern-Day "Harlotry" - Continue

 Though a handful of priests and nuns protested Hitler's  atrocities-and suffered for it-the Vatican as well as the Catholic Church and its army of clergy gave either active or tacit support to the Nazi tyranny, which they regarded at bulwark against the advance of world communism. Sitting pretty in the Vatican, Pope Pius XII let the holocaust on the Jews and the cruel persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses and others proceed uncriticized. It is ironical that Pope John II, on visiting Germany on May 19187, should glorify the anti-Nazi stand of one sincere priest. What were the other thousands of the German's clergy during Hitler's reign of terror? A pastoral letter issued by the German Catholic bishops in September 1939 at the outbreak of World War II provides enlightenment on this point. It reads in part: "In this decisive hour we admonish our Catholic soldiers to do their duty in obedience to the Fueher and to be ready to sacrifice their whole individuality. We appeal to the Faithful to join in ardent prayers that Divine Providence may leald this war to blessed success. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Three/Judging the Infamous Harlot - Modern -Day "Harlotry" - Conclusion

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