First of all, we have to recognize that Hitler didn’t actually kill anyone – he was the head of a government which had a policy of genocide, but didn’t actually DO the killing.
Next, we must understand that MANY people did the actual killing, and many more - -a great many more – cooperated in various ways, from informing on Jews and other victims, to running the trains, to guarding the camps.
Third, we must openly admit that many of these people WERE Christians. Catholic Balts spontaneously killed Jews. Catholic Frenchmen and Italians turned in Jews – in fact, helped round them up. Orthodox Christians served in the various auxillaries and participated in the killing. Lutherans served in the SS and ran the camps.
Finally, we must accept that anti-Semitism was a fact of life in Christianity for well over a thousand years – the Jews were expelled from many nations (Spain and England, for example.) They were confined in ghettos and discriminated againt. There were anti-Jewish riots (pogroms) periodically in much of Europe. Without this anti-semitism, there would have been no Holocaust.
From the age of seven, we Catholics learn to swallow the bitter medicine of our sins. We learn to examine our consciences, and to confess our sins. We must apply this learning to the Holocaust.
We, as individuals, did not kill anyone, nor did we participate in any way. The Church did what it could to alleviate the suffering. But nevertheless, the Holocaust is a stain on Christianity, and it won’t go away if we continue to deny it.