Found this on the usenet alt.recovery.catholic board:

... In regards to the beatification of Pius IX, the pope says "Beatifying a son of the church does not celebrate particular historic choices that he made, but rather points him out for imitation and for veneration for his virtue, praising the divine grace that shines in him." So the message here is clearly that one actions in a historical sense, i.e, what one *does*, have no bearing on one's so-called virtue. Once a person is gone from this earth, their historical choices -- in the form of the consequences of hen -- are all there is left of them. If a man is virtuous, then the fruits of his actions would show that his historical choices were in fact virtuous. What great virtues of Pius IX are we supposed to imitate? Kidnapping Jewish children? Locking the Jews in ghettoes? Teaching our children that Jews are "dogs"? Hitler was ahead of his time on this. Clearly this pope is continuing the work of Pius IX by sending an anti-Semitic message to catholics worldwide. How one can possibly reconcile the actions of Pius IX with the message of Christ that the most important commandment is for all people to love each other is something that can only happen in the twisted logic of catholicism. The Toxic Avenger

-- (Frederick@sharp.co), September 06, 2000