Actress Calls Pope a Nazi

Susan Sarandon has called Pope Benedict XVI, who like most German youngsters at
the time, served in the Hitler Youth as a child, a Nazi - outraging Catholics.
Catholic and Jewish groups blasted Susan Sarandon after the Oscar-winning
actress twice described Pope Benedict XVI as a Nazi.

"Susan Sarandon's ignorance is willful: Those who have hatred in their veins are
not interested in the truth," said William Donohue, spokesman for the Catholic
League.

"Sarandon's comment is obscene. Sadly, it's what we've come to expect of her."

The flap started when Sarandon, who won an Academy Award for her role as a Roman
Catholic nun in "Dead Man Walking," appeared at the Hamptons Film Festival this
past weekend.

Sarandon, during an interview, said she sent a copy of the book that provided
the basis for her film to the pope - and then qualified her answer, Newsday
reported.

"The last one," she said. "Not this Nazi one we have now."

The social activist/actress than repeated the comment.

The German-born pope, born Joseph Ratzinger, was briefly a member of the Hitler
Youth when membership was mandatory.

"Unlike most of the other teenagers, Ratzinger refused to go to meetings,
bringing economic hardship to his family," Donohue said. "Moreover ... he
deserted at the first opportunity."

The Anti-Defamation League, a group battling anti-Semitism, called on Sarandon
to apologize for her remarks.

"Ms. Sarandon may have her differences with the Catholic Church, but that is no
excuse for throwing around Nazi analogies," the ADL said in a statement.

"Such words are hateful, vindictive and only serve to diminish the true history
and meaning of the Holocaust."

Sarandon, 65, has yet to comment on the controversy, and a Tuesday e-mail to her
agent went unanswered. See Chick's THE HOLOCAUST.