Pope-ism and Nazis

In his article, Goldhagen relates the pope's way of thinking and the Nazi beliefs because he was hoping to stimulate the readers mind into critically thinking about both sides. The ideas from both the pope and Nazis were similar: Their way is the best way. Some differences are that the pope didn't put people in ovens if they disagreed with his beliefs and the Nazis actually learned form their actions about creating a "superior" race. Meanwhile, the pope only believes that his religion is correct, and he hasn't learned when to stop trying to convert people while the Nazis were burning people left and right before they learned they were wrong.
The article also says that the pope was in the Nazi Youth program, which meant that he had to agree with some of the plans and ideas that the Nazis believed in. Basically, the only reason why he quit the group was because he didn't like the violence which was bestowed upon all the Jews and everyone else.
The purpose of this article is for the reader to look past all the righteous bias that the pope generates as well all the negativity from the Nazis. Critical thinking requires a state of mind that is willing to listen to both sides and release most, if not all, biased thinking. What better way to excersize this than to take the most widely known "pure" figure and compare him to a group that is hated throughout most of the world and is basically a symbal of death?