Catholic League head Bill Donohue labels the 'Lovely Bones' actress a despicable person for making the remark, while Anti-Defamation League asks her to apologize to the Catholic community.
- Oct 18, 2011
AceShowbiz - Susan Sarandon is getting herself in hot water with her recent comment about Pope Benedict XVI. The Catholic League and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have slammed the "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps" actress for referring to the current head of the Catholic Church as a "Nazi".
Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told E! News, "She's a despicable person to make these kinds of despicable remarks." Having said that "it is very hard to find someone dumber than [Sarandon]," he additionally explained, "[Pope] deserted the Hitler Youth at the first moment."
"[Sarandon] doesn't know what she's talking about," Donohue continued on. "To blame him for something that he was never responsible for; he was forced to join as every boy his age was. Unlike the others, he deserted." He, however, is not looking for an apology, reasoning that the actress "is ignorant and full of hatred to the Catholic Church."
The ADL, on the other hand, has called on Susan to apologize for her comment. ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman stated, "We hope that Susan Sarandon will have the good sense to apologize to the Catholic community and all those she may have offended with this disturbing, deeply offensive and completely uncalled for attack on the good name of Pope Benedict XVI."
In the statement released on Monday, October 17, Foxman also said, "Ms. Sarandon may have her differences with the Catholic Church, but that is no excuse for throwing around Nazi analogies." He concluded, "Such words are hateful, vindictive and only serve to diminish the true history and meaning of the Holocaust."
Sarandon made her controversial comment during an interview with fellow actor Bob Balaban at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York for the Hamptons Film Festival. Per Newsday, the 65-year-old revealed she sent the Pope a copy of the anti death penalty book, "Dead Man Walking". Clarifying that the Pope she mentioned was Pope John Paul II, she said, "The last one, not this Nazi one we have now."
