04 February,2009 10:26 AM IST | | Agencies
Nearly four years after an outburst of national pride over the election of a German pope, Germans are falling out of love with Pope Benedict because of his rehabilitation of a bishop who denies the Holocaust.
Prominent Catholics, politicians and newspaper commentators in Joseph Ratzinger's homeland are pulling no punches in their criticism of his lifting of the excommunications of four bishops, including one who denies the extent of the Holocaust. Chancellor Angela Merkel also criticised him.
"Worldwide criticism of the Pope," read the front page of top-selling daily Bild.
"The pope has made a serious mistake. That he is a German pope makes the matter especially bad," read its editorial.
"Pope Benedict XVI is inflicting great damage on Germany... The pope must correct his mistake, reverse his decision and excuse himself," it said, in comments echoed by other papers.
More than 60 years after the end of World War II, Germans are still struggling to come to terms with the legacy of the Holocaust, in which Nazis killed 6 million Jews.
Last week, Germany's Central Council of Jews said it was breaking off ties with the Catholic Church over the pope's move.
The rehabilitated bishop at the centre of the storm is Richard Williamson, who belongs to the ultra-traditional Society of Saint Pius X and denies the extent of the Holocaust.
The Vatican hit back, saying the pope's position on the Holocaust was unambiguous. "The condemnation of declarations, which deny the Holocaust could not have been any clearer," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement.u00a0
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