Pope Visits Nazi Death Camp - Los Angeles Times

Pope Visits Nazi Death Camp - Los Angeles Times: "'In a place like this, words fail,' Benedict said later at a memorial ceremony in Birkenau. 'In the end, there can only be a dread silence, a silence which is itself a heartfelt cry to God: Why, Lord, did you remain silent?"

The Lord remained silent? Didn't the Lord touch Anne Frank, Martin Neimoller, and countless others to resist the war and raise their voices against the atrocities of the holocaust?

The more pertinent question is why did Benedict remain silent? The Pope was a member of both the Hitler Youth and the German army during the holocaust. To give him a fair shake it should be noted that he joined the Hitler youth after it became compulsory, and that according to biographers - "he wasn't a very enthusiastic member."

I find it profoundly disturbing that the spiritual leader of one of the world's largest religions sat idly by while millions of fellow human beings were slaughtered.

To answer the Pope's question - when I think God isn't speaking, I usually find it is me who isn't listening.