She may have meant it as a joke, but a couple major organizations are not laughing over Susan Sarandon's reference to Pope Benedict XVI as a Nazi.
Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, says the quip "bespeaks unparalleled ignorance" on the actress' part, as Joseph Ratzinger is considered a friend of Jewish people because he "deserted the Hitler Youth."
The Anti-Defamation League, meanwhile, responded yesterday by asking Sarandon to apologize to the Catholic communit. Said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman:
"Ms. Sarandon may have her differences with the Catholic Church, but that is no excuse for throwing around Nazi analogies. Such words are hateful, vindictive and only serve to diminish the true history and meaning of the Holocaust."
What do you think? Should Sarandon apologize? How do you view her statement about the Pope?