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...good any we are likely to hear. Given the specifics of the case, however, the name would be more appropriate if it could be made to signify 'a rat to be zinged.' Alas, that seems to be ruled out by what I know about the German language.
Whatever the name Ratzinger may signify, one thing seems certain: he will be a pope like none other since the Dark Ages. The world's foremost authority on Satan and exorcism, he was the head of the Holy Roman Inquisition--a Grand Inquisitor euphemistically referred to as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (a)
In The Ratzinger Report, coauthored with Vittorio Messori, with the approval of Pope John Paul II the pope-to-be wrote:
Whatever the less discerning theologians may say, the devil, as far as Christian belief is concerned, is a puzzling but real, personal and not merely symbolical presence. He is a powerful reality (the 'prince of this world,' as he is called by the New Testament, which continually reminds us of his existence), a baneful superhuman freedom directed against God's freedom. This is evident if we look realistically at history, with its abyss of ever-new atrocities which cannot be explained by reference to man alone. On his own, man has not the power to oppose Satan, but the devil is not second to God, and united with Jesus we can be certain of vanquishing him.
In his popular treatise Dogma und Verkundigung [Dogma and Preaching] he explains what Catholics need to do about this devil:
Anyone who has a clear picture of the dark sides of the age in which we live sees forces at work which aim to disintegrate the relationships among men. In this situation the Christian can see that his task as exorcist must regain the importance it had when the faith was at the beginning. Of course the word 'exorcism' must not be understood here in its technical sense; it simply refers to the attitude of faith as a whole, which 'overcomes the world' and 'casts out' the prince of this world.
Readers will be amused to learn that Cardinal Ratzinger once equated belief in the devil with spiritual maturity.
Ratzi the Nazi?
As befits a man who now exercises absolute, dictatorial control over the world's smallest despotism, Ratzinger is a fascist to the core, having served a stint in the Hitler Jugend ('Hitler Youth') when he was a teenager living in Traunstein, a staunchly Catholic, Hitler-loving Bavarian town close to the Fuhrer's alpine retreat at Berchtesgaden. ([dagger])
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Two years later, the future pope was serving in an anti-aircraft unit, protecting...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
have been removed from this article.
More articles from American Atheist Magazine
The teacher to his students on ultimates.(Poem), March 22, 2005
Pope Leo I weighs in on the papacy., March 22, 2005
Culture of life?(right to die or not), March 22, 2005
Of man and his soul., March 22, 2005
What is death?(Panel Discussion), March 22, 2005
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