During the October 23 episode of the E! show, “Chelsea Lately,” priests and Germans were libeled by two of Chelsea Handler’s guests, Kurt Braunohler and Moshe Kasher.
The objectionable part began with a discussion of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the German bishop who was suspended by Pope Francis for his opulent lifestyle.
Braunohler: “I love that the Catholic Church has like a zero tolerance policy on everything other than child abuse.”
Kasher: “It’s a German priest, so that’s a difficult set of circumstances. You know what I mean, it’s like-do I make out with that kid or do I kill that Jew.”
The remark by Kasher, which fails to distinguish between Germans and Nazis, suggests he doesn’t know the difference between those Germans who resisted Hitler—they were disproportionately Catholic—and those who followed the genocidal policies of the National Socialist Party run by an atheist who hated the Catholic Church. Both of the guests are ignorant, but that is hardly an excuse to smear all priests and Germans.
Chelsea made an anti-Catholic remark again when she insulted the pope during the November 8 episode of “Chelsea Lately.”
Speaking of the inclusion of Pope Francis on the Forbes list of the most powerful people in the world, Chelsea Handler said, “So, and the new pope is on the list. That’s interesting since he’s never had penetration. How can he be that powerful?”
Any woman who goes on TV to laugh about an abortion she once had, as Handler did with Conan O’Brien, is capable of taking an obscene shot at the pope. But it doesn’t make her gratuitous quip any less offensive.
