Pope tells Germans don’t ignore religion

POPE Benedict XVI told the German parliament yesterday that politicians must not sacrifice ethics for power, evoking the Nazi excesses of his homeland as a lesson in history.

Amid scattered protests outside and a boycott by some lawmakers, Benedict began his first state visit to Germany in a bid to stem the tide of Catholics leaving the Church while acknowledging the damage caused by the clerical sex abuse scandal.

The Pope spoke for 20 minutes in the historic Reichstag parliament building, which was torched in 1933 in an incident used by Hitler to strengthen his grip on power.