Charlotte Front and Center

Anne Frank: Still a Loving Light Among Those Who Hate

If you were lucky enough to be a girl of 13 when you read the Diary of Anne Frank,you learned of life's dark experiences from a peer. Many of us,no matter our age, were fortunate enough to learn the harsh realities of war,hatred, and what suffering men could and did inflict on an entire race. These events were national acts of hatred that were left unchecked by other men until it was too late for so many. 

Lucky we are, when we only learn and feel the experience from another person's heart such as Anne Frank.

Anne Frank,who kept a gentle spirit as she was innocently cast into a world of evil,would have celebrated her 80th birthday,June 12.  Anne died in the Auschwitz camp one month before this notorious concentration camp was liberated by Allied troops in April of 1945. Yet,we will still celebrate the brief life whose story was left to us to in the form of a diary. It is a diary with insight into what lengths racial hatred did go,but told from the perspective of a young soul that tells a story of the Holocaust.  The diary left the world a gift that eternally sheds a triumphal light over this period of darkness.

It is unfathomable the audacity of ignorance revealed by the fools who discount these horrors.  We can't let this foolish propaganda go unchecked.

 The Diary of Anne Frank had its first entry by this wise little 13 year old,77 years ago today.

Pope Benedict Walks Out on Sheikh's Attack of Israel

The Jerusalem Post is reporting the Pope walked out of a verbal attack launched by Shaikh Tayseer Rajab Tamini. Tamini took the podium after Benedict had spoken, and then went in to a vicious,hate-filled attack against Israel. The Pope exited soon after Tamini made his speech, not even waiting for the inter-religious dialog to officially end.

The Pope has made it his mission to be of help in bringing peace to the Middle-East peace, but instead was forced to have the Vatican gives this press-release:  "We hope that such an incident will not damage the mission of the Holy Father aiming at promoting peace and inter-religious dialog, as he has clearly affirmed in many occasions in this pilgrimage," Father Lombardi added.

"We hope also that inter-religious dialog in the holy land will not be damaged by this incident," the message concluded.

Earlier in the day, when the Pope arrived in Israel, he vowed to fight the rising tide of anti-Semitism. These are the words he used while addressing the Israelis:

"Tragically, the Jewish people have experienced the terrible consequences of ideologies that deny the fundamental dignity of every human person," he said. "It is right and fitting that, during my stay in Israel, I will have the opportunity to honor the memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Shoah, and to pray that humanity will never again witness a crime of such magnitude."

"Sadly, anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head in many parts of the world. This is totally unacceptable," the popecontinued. "Every effort must be made to combat anti-Semitism wherever it is found, and to promote respect and esteem for the members of every people, tribe, language and nation across the globe."

The Pope has taken on an ambitious mission with everyone hanging on every word he uses.  The Pope has been involved in controversy with Jews and Islamists over unintentional interpretation of his past remarks.  The most important need was to address the Holocaust and its victims since we are in a period of time where many are trying to say that the Holocaust did not take place, and as certain nations call for the destruction of Israel.

The Pope needs to make progress in relations with Israel and the Catholic Church. So many questions remain to this day concerning Pope Pius XII and his degree of help in aiding Jews during World War II.

Pope to Skip Holocaust Museum on Trip to Israel

There have been critics over the years accusing Pope Pius XII of having not done enough to help the Jews during the WWII Holocaust. Current understanding is that Pope Pius XII remained neutral between the Axis and Allied counries. 

Vatican defenders of the Pope during WWII are slowly opening up archives to prove how the Pope operated behind the scenes and why he did so.  With the way things appear, and the perception of the role played by the Pope to the Jewish people, one would hope the Vatican breaks through some of their own red-tape and hasten to speed up the process. The world as well wants the definite and conclusive answers to Pope Pius XII's role.

Until that time all records are released, Pope Benedict feels compelled to not visit the museum because of a caption in the museum that points out Pope Pius was "neutral". This is a delicate issue for Pope Benedict, who was forced as a young boy to serve in the "Hitler Youth". The Pope has spoken out vehemently against the Holocaust atrocities, and that most recently occured at Auschwitz.  The Pope will attend the memorial section of Yad Vashem when visiting Israel.

It will only help relations between Catholics and Jews that an accepted account of Pope Pius' role with European Jews is publicly stated and documented by the Roman Catholic Church...TRedwine