Photo ~ Catholic Bishops giving the Nazi salute in honor of Hitler.
Note Joseph Goebbels (far right) and Wilhelm Frick (second from right) (Source: USHMM, Photo source: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek [Bavarian State Library])

Archbold: Notre Dame ACE Leader Reacts to Fidelity Oath With ‘Nazi’ Joke

Here’s a quick primer on how to get quoted in a major metropolitan newspaper. Ready? Mention Catholic bishops and Nazis in the same sentence. It’s a sure-fire thing that your quote will not be left on the cutting room floor.

That is reportedly what Father Ronald Nuzzi, who trains Catholic school principals at the University of Notre Dame, did when asked by the Washington Post about a new Arlington Diocese requirement that all Catechism teachers sign an oath of fidelity to Church teaching.

Father Nuzzi reportedly told the reporter he keeps a picture on his desk of German bishops giving a Nazi salute. He said it reminds him that the wisdom of the bishops is limited.

This is more than outrageous. In a story about oaths of fidelity and bringing up bishops giving a Nazi salute is a low blow for the Washington Post, never mind a priest. But one has to wonder if in this picture on Fr. Nuzzi’s desk if it’s all the bishops like he said.

All? Or was that a bit of hyperbole for the Washington Post?

Is Fr. Nuzzi saying that because some bishops have made terrible mistakes, that discounts the bishops’ teaching authority as a body? Is he comparing bishops to Nazis?

And why would a priest in charge of religious education keep a picture like this on his desk? Out of all the messages a priest should be sending in America today with 50 million unborn being killed and with the federal government steamrolling religious liberty, is this really the message he chooses to send?

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