Bill Maher to Apologize for Calling Pope Benedict XVI a Nazi
Maher's Remarks Came Last Friday on His HBO Show, Real Time with Bill Maher
By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/18/2008 6:36:00 PM
Calling Pope Benedict XVI a Nazi, acerbic comedian Bill Maher ran afoul of Catholics.
Maher's remarks came last Friday on his HBO show, Real Time with Bill Maher.
“Whenever a cult leader sets himself up as God's infallible wing man here on Earth, lock away the kids," Maher said, comparing the church to the polygamist cult in Texas that was recently raided by authorities.
"I'd like to tip off law enforcement to an even larger child-abusing religious cult," he continued. "Its leader also has a compound, and this guy not only operates outside the bounds of the law, but he used to be a Nazi and he wears funny hats."
It was the Nazi comment that rankled Catholics. In a press release, Catholic League president Bill Donohue stated that he was assured by an HBO executive that Maher would apologize on Friday’s show for “falsely accusing the pope of once being a Nazi.”
“Like all young men in Germany at the time, [Joseph Ratzinger] was conscripted into a German youth organization, from which he fled as soon as he could,” Donohue added. “Every responsible Jewish leader has acknowledged this reality and has never sought to brand the pope a Nazi.”
An HBO spokesman confirmed that Maher is expected to acknowledge that he misspoke about the Pope's past and “briefly explain the correct information” on Friday's edition of Real Time.
Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the United States this week, presiding over masses in New York and Washington, D.C. He also met with several victims of clergy sexual abuse and publicly apologized for the far-reaching sex abuse crisis that rocked the Catholic Church, saying he felt “deeply ashamed.”
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Bill Maher is not a real reporter. Either is MSNBC. They are manipulators.
a - 9/23/2008 11:50:00 AM EDT -
I must pay extra to see HBO via satellite. I have no choice about all the religious stations that I must receive. I do have the choice not to watch them!
I find it refreshing that all points of view are represented on Mr. Maher's show.
I consider myself a red-letter Christian. Terrible things have been said and done in the name of a simple carpenter who preached "the golden rule."
Dexter Denoyer - 4/23/2008 12:39:00 AM EDT -
Bill Maher only stated facts in Bill Maher style. The Pope and his followers need to realize that there is a God and it's not the Pope.
Betty McFall - 4/22/2008 2:17:00 PM EDT -
Bill Maher has every right to express his opinions. The facts are the facts, and THe Catholics, including Bill Donohue cannot take it. THe Pope was a Nazi, whether he wanted to or not, period. He was a member of the Hitler Youth at age 14. It's public record. You can see it on Wikipedia and other websites that profile the Pope. That's a fact. Get over it.
M Giannico Mauro - 4/21/2008 6:16:00 PM EDT -
I stopped watching Maher years ago (before HBO) because of his constant bashing of the Catholic Church. After his comments re 9/11, I thought he had lost most of his audience but it appears I was wrong. It''s frightening to think there are that many bigots who agree with him.
Joanne D. Callahan - 4/21/2008 1:43:00 PM EDT
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