Catholics, Jews condemn Sarandon’s pope Nazi quip

NEW YORK — Catholic and Jewish groups are condemning actress Susan Sarandon for referring to Pope Benedict XVI as a Nazi.

The head of the Catholic League says her comment was “obscene” and the Anti-Defamation League released a statement calling on the actress to apologize to the Catholic community for the “deeply offensive” remark.

Sarandon, who won an Academy Award for her role in the 1995 anti-death penalty film, “Dead Man Walking,” made the comment during an interview Saturday at the Hamptons Film Festival on Long Island.

As first reported by Newsday, Sarandon said she gave a copy of the book on which the film is based to the German-born pope, referring to him as a Nazi.

A telephone call to Sarandon’s representative asking for comment was not immediately returned.