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	When Catholics have to choose By Donna Gentile O'Donnell Philadelphia Daily News [Philadelphia PA] November 2, 2005 THE RATZINGER brothers "made a different choice." These were the words of Elizabeth Lohner, lifelong resident of Traunstein, Germany, the hometown of Joseph, now Pope Benedict, Ratzinger. As reported earlier this year in the Sunday Times World, Lohner, whose brother-in-law was sent to Dachau as a conscientious objector, doesn't buy the line adopted by the Ratzinger brothers and their Vatican allies. The Ratzinger defenders claim that conscription into Hitler's war machine was inevitable, and resistance was impossible. Lohner, a Ratzinger neighbor said, "It was possible to resist, and those people set an example for others. The Ratzingers were young and had made a different choice." The concept of choices made and examples set is important in understanding the deep-seated corruption that is now evidenced in the pedophilia grand jury documentation. These cardinals, alleged moral leaders, elected Ratzinger - a man surrounded by astonishing acts of evil against his neighbors, and who was incapable of personal risk to resist. We shouldn't be surprised that the men who elected him did the same. Philadelphia's Cardinal Rigali, a participant in the election of Ratzinger as pope, continues to publicly demonstrate his lack of moral compass, despite some recent public efforts to try to ease the pain. More worthy of note is the fact that, in the time preceding the papal conclave at the Vatican, multiple high masses were held in connection with the funeral of John Paul II. One of them was celebrated by Cardinal Bernard Law, who, after being run out of Boston's archdiocese for his participation in that criminal pedophilia cover-up, was brought to Rome, living under the protection of the Vatican. Only one other cardinal concelebrated the Mass with the disgraced Cardinal Law: Justin Rigali. We know the court at Nuremberg did not accept "I was only following orders" as an adequate defense for atrocities. The court of public opinion should not accept, "It was mandatory that I join and serve" as an adequate defense for Ratzinger's complacency as a conscripted Nazi. Nor should we accept that the cardinals who elected Ratzinger were well-intentioned, but merely misguided in the handling of the pedophile priests. The facts of the grand jury report, as well as the stunning documentation from other archdioceses across the nation, belie that argument. Traunstein's Jews and non-Jews, including Catholics, joined the resistance, and gave their lives to stand up to the astonishing inhumanity perpetrated in their midst. Traunstein's Joseph Ratzinger looked the other way, and engaged in a series of decisions driven by self-preservation. The cardinals, the men who elected Ratzinger, when confronted with the inhumanity perpetrated by the pedophile priests, did the same. These alleged men of God were not willing to risk their connections to the seats of power within the hierarchy, their reputations, or their lives of privilege. They became the enablers of the abuser priests. We must stop being the enablers of this travesty. We bear responsibility for it if we continue contributing financially to a church that demands that "good Catholics" pray, pay and obey. Every Catholic, present, past or lapsed, has a choice. We can denounce these acts for what they are: heinous depravity, made worse by a climate of authoritarian secrecy, with a commitment to the accretion of power for power's sake. Or we can face the fact that we, too, are complicit - not by our action, but by our inaction. Every Catholic has a choice to make. Will you continue to pay for the lavish lifestyles of the bishops who could not find the courage to protect these children and their families? Will you underwrite the elegant retirement of Cardinals Law and Bevilaqua and others in the castles of Italy and the mansions of the Main Line? Will you finance the legal defense of the criminal priests who murdered the souls of innocent children? Will you support the public relations campaign that spins the facts of this horror into a web of ongoing deceit? Will you continue to place blind trust in the men who have so clearly demonstrated they don't deserve it? The next time the collection basket passes in front of you at Mass, instead of cash or a check, send a note that says: "I am a conscientious non-contributor." Then send a contribution to any organization that is helping kids, abuse survivors or their familiars. The Ratzinger brothers had a choice. The cardinals and bishops had a choice. Every Catholic has a choice. Donna Gentile O'Donnell, author of "Provider of Last Resort," recently left the Catholic Church.
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