go talk to an elderly Nazi

Ratzinger may be many things - but a Nazi is not one of them. Not everyone who was in the German Army back then was a Nazi... you practically didn't have a choice. Also, remember that the children back then were indoctrinated everywhere - in school, university, possibly at home and in the Hitler Youth.

Many of them turned out to be prime examples of defenders of democracy once the de-nazification was complete.

Don't blame it on them, not really fair.

Ratzinger is a very proficient thinker - there is no doubt about that. A very good thinker holding a position that's totally nuts, and immoral to boot. It's not like that has never happened before or since (just look at Swinburne, Craig, Plantinga etc).

Actually, Ratzinger used to be among the most progressive catholic officials... He even was partially responsible for the huge modernizations the catholic church underwent in Vatican II - but then the '68 revolution wrecked havoc at the university he was teaching at and used physical violence to interrupt learning - and he turned staunch conservative.

I don't like him any more than any atheist on here - but he is definitely not a Nazi.