'Pope is a Nazi' Comments From Susan Sarandon Angers Catholic League
Oscar award-winning actress and liberal political activist, Susan Sarandon called Pope Benedict XVI a "Nazi" during an interview this past weekend, causing The Catholic League to slam the actress in the media.
According to Newsweek, Sarandon was discussing her 1995 film "Dead Man Walking," based on the anti-death-penalty book by Sister Helen Prejean, a copy of which she sent to the pope.
"The last one," she said, "not this Nazi one we have now."
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Sarandon did not retract her comment. In fact, she repeated them later in the conversation.
Bill Donahue, President of The Catholic League, was not shy about his feelings regarding Sarandon's remarks.
"Susan Sarandon's quip about Pope Benedict XVI being a 'Nazi' bespeaks unparalleled ignorance," he told TMZ.
"She's a despicable person to make these kinds of despicable remarks," Donahue said in an interview with E! News, emphasizing that the actress is "despicable" and that "it is very hard to find someone dumber than her."
Donahue also said that he would not seek an apology from the "hard-core leftist" actress because "she is ignorant and full of hatred to the Catholic Church."
Pope Benedict XVI, who is German, has been called a Nazi before, largely due to the fact that he was a member of the Hitler Youth as a teenager. However, conscription into the Hitler Youth was mandatory for every German boy at that time, according to Donahue.
"He deserted the Hitler Youth at the first moment," Donohue explained. "[Sarandon] doesn't know what she's talking about...To blame him for something that he was never responsible for; he was forced to join as every boy his age was. Unlike the others, he deserted."
