Pope compares EU to Nazi Germany after it tries to 'cancel christmas'

An internal EU document which was unveiled by the equality commissioner, Helena Dalli, in late October has drew harsh criticism from the pope which comared the EU to Nazi and Communist regimes. The most controversial part of the advice was to “avoid assuming that everyone is Christian.”

“Not everyone celebrates the Christian holidays, and not all Christians celebrate them on the same dates,” says the document. It advises staff to avoid sentences such as “Christmas time can be stressful” and instead use “Holiday times can be stressful.”

It also says not to use the phrase “Christian names” and to use “first name” or “forename” instead as well as not using names “that are typically from one religion.” It gives the example of using “Malika and Julio” instead of “Maria and John” to describe an “international couple.”

The guidelines also recommended avoiding the use of “gendered words” such as “man-made fabrics,” which should be replaced with more generic terms such as “synthetic fabrics.”

The document is part of a plan championed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to implement a “Union of Equality” and make sure that “everyone is valued and recognized in all our material regardless of their gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.” Replying to a question from a journalists regarding the document and its plan to "cancel christmas" the Pope replied: "You refer to the European Union document on Christmas... this is an anachronism. In history many, many dictatorships have tried to do so. Think of Napoleon: from there... Think of the Nazi dictatorship, the communist one... it is a fashion of a watered-down secularism, distilled water... But this is something that throughout hasn’t worked." The pope’s remarks come after the European Commission last week abruptly pulled back its 30-page guide aimed at ensuring no European felt excluded from EU communications following a firestorm of criticism from many many people on social media and politicians. Helena Dalli, the EU Commissioner for Equality, launched the guidelines on Oct. 26 but announced on Nov. 30 that she had recalled them.

She said: “It is not a mature document and does not meet all Commission quality standards. The guidelines clearly need more work. I therefore withdraw the guidelines and will work further on this document.”