Qui tacet consentire videtur.

Indifference and Silence

I grew up in a steel–town neighborhood around the corner from St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church and Elementary School and suffered periodic taunting and beatings from the sons of Polish immigrants. The beatings ended when, despite being small, I bloodied a ringleader's nose. The taunting never ended.

Where did they learn to hate Jews? Probably at home with the silent reinforcement of the Catholic Church then lead by Pope Pius XII. All the same, I don't think it was hate that drove my childhood tormentors; it was fear. As the Stranger in High Plains Drifter said, "It's what people know about themselves inside that makes them afraid."

The Catholic Church has a long, nefarious history of acting—often violently—out fear. However, the Church's greatest sin was one of omission: Pope Pius XII's indifference and silence while six million Jews were led to slaughter at the hands of the Nazis. The bullies (and their parents) of my childhood didn't hate Jews; they blamed the victims for putting Catholics in the fearful position of moral inferiority.

Now, over 50 years since my childhood, I read an article with the headline Vilnius Catholics derogatorily portray Jews in holiday parade. Why? Perhaps ignorant Lithuanian Catholics can't accept that they are the reason that Lithuania is a third-rate, morally impoverished country. Who better to taunt then their old scapegoats who represent a whopping .09% of their country's population?

What is the official Vatican response to its congregants behaving immorally, unconcerned with the honor and feelings of others? Indifference and silence.

Qui tacet consentire videtur. "He who keeps silent is assumed to consent; silence gives consent."