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Betty Amstutz Gerson's avatar

I don’t think that the Catholic Church actively supported the Nazis. Passively, they did, refusing to take a stand and condemn Fascist brutality. They certainly weren’t a group of Dieter Bonhoeffers, the German minister who died in a camp for challenging the Nazi regime.

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Mark In Colorado's avatar

I hear you, and yet, a blind eye is a blind eye. The Catholic Church agreed to stay silent about Hitler and Mussolini, at least in part, to protect their enormous wealth. They feared the fascists would plunder the church, or worse. Germany and Italy were predominantly Catholic. All of this is left out of most history books (it wasn’t until a college course on the history of Germany between the wars that filled in the many gaps for me).

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Beth B's avatar

"their enormous wealth" which is not taxed

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Betty Amstutz Gerson's avatar

Yes, Mark. I agree. Omission is also a sin.

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