February 1, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI
St. Peters Basilica
Vatican City, Rome
Italy
Holy Father,
You are the last man elected Pope who lived directly in the shadow of the Holocaust and experienced the Jew-hatred directly. You saw it happening and know it is a factual historical event. Unlike you, there are Catholics in the world, devout Catholics, who continue to deny the historicity of the event. You recently lifted the excommunication decree on such a devout Catholic and that action confuses all clear thinking people. How can you, in good conscience, take back into your fold such a hater and give him legitimacy?
Holocaust denial and Holocaust revisionism is an effort upon the part of some to deny the facts of this despicable event in the desperate hope of either disassociating this horror from Christian compliance, or to further delegitimatizing Israel’s right to exist. Perhaps such people are overwhelmed by the thought that people who follow Jesus could have done what they did, or perhaps they continue to feel that the people who denied Jesus have no right to live. The bishop you reinstated has also inferred that 9/11 was a Jewish plot and Jews were warned not to show up. Yet 500 Jews were also murdered that day. Yet reinstating this man gives support to him and his beliefs despite your statements to the contrary published in the newspapers. It’s all Jew-hatred.
I am asking you to issue an Papal encyclical to the Christian world and especially to the Catholics of the world, clearly stating that the Holocaust did take place in Europe, that you saw it, that God saw it, and that to deny the reality of the Holocaust is to commit a grievous sin against God and His church. Such a statement made from Peter’s Throne will finally give the lie to those particular Jew-haters, and also let them know that the Holy See finds their perversion of history as despicable as their immorality. Such a statement will give you your place in history along side John XXIII and your predecessor.
Holy Father, you have the power to put this issue to rest once and for all. Your statement will shrivel, for all time, the great lie. Because you saw it, you may be the last Pope who can do this. Even if you will not reconsider lifting the ban on this man because you would lose face, please declare Holocaust denial and Jew-hatred a sin in the eyes of God.
Sincerely,
Leonard H. Berman
Pope Benedict XVI
St. Peters Basilica
Vatican City, Rome
Italy
Holy Father,
You are the last man elected Pope who lived directly in the shadow of the Holocaust and experienced the Jew-hatred directly. You saw it happening and know it is a factual historical event. Unlike you, there are Catholics in the world, devout Catholics, who continue to deny the historicity of the event. You recently lifted the excommunication decree on such a devout Catholic and that action confuses all clear thinking people. How can you, in good conscience, take back into your fold such a hater and give him legitimacy?
Holocaust denial and Holocaust revisionism is an effort upon the part of some to deny the facts of this despicable event in the desperate hope of either disassociating this horror from Christian compliance, or to further delegitimatizing Israel’s right to exist. Perhaps such people are overwhelmed by the thought that people who follow Jesus could have done what they did, or perhaps they continue to feel that the people who denied Jesus have no right to live. The bishop you reinstated has also inferred that 9/11 was a Jewish plot and Jews were warned not to show up. Yet 500 Jews were also murdered that day. Yet reinstating this man gives support to him and his beliefs despite your statements to the contrary published in the newspapers. It’s all Jew-hatred.
I am asking you to issue an Papal encyclical to the Christian world and especially to the Catholics of the world, clearly stating that the Holocaust did take place in Europe, that you saw it, that God saw it, and that to deny the reality of the Holocaust is to commit a grievous sin against God and His church. Such a statement made from Peter’s Throne will finally give the lie to those particular Jew-haters, and also let them know that the Holy See finds their perversion of history as despicable as their immorality. Such a statement will give you your place in history along side John XXIII and your predecessor.
Holy Father, you have the power to put this issue to rest once and for all. Your statement will shrivel, for all time, the great lie. Because you saw it, you may be the last Pope who can do this. Even if you will not reconsider lifting the ban on this man because you would lose face, please declare Holocaust denial and Jew-hatred a sin in the eyes of God.
Sincerely,
Leonard H. Berman