Pope's 'anguished' letter draws varied responses

March 12, 2009

A letter by Pope Benedict XVI, explaining his decision to lift the excommunication of bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), is "an unusual document worthy of great attention," said that the director of the Vatican press office in his own statement on March 12. As the Vatican released the full text of the Pope's letter, Father Federico Lombardi observed: "Never before in his pontificate has Benedict XVI expressed himself so personally and intensely on a matter of public debate." (One might easily go further, and question whether any pontificate has seen such an intensely personal statement.)

Father Lombardi claimed that the controversy surrounding Bishop Richard Williamson is "fortunately now surpassed," allowing the Pope to direct attention to his real purpose in lifting the excommunications, which was "a warm invitation for [SSPX bishops] to return to unity." Pope Benedict's actions, then and now, are motivated by a "deep concern for unity," the papal spokesman said, and the Pope's message calls on Catholics and others to examine their own responses to "ask questions to discern what spiritual attitudes were… at work in this case."

Many secular reports on the extraordinary papal statement demonstrated that the Wiliamson controversy remains very much alive despite Father Lombardi's claim. Many newspaper headlines referred to Bishop Williamson as the central focus of the Pope's letter, thereby demonstrating that reporters and editors had not yet turned their attention to the main point of the papal text.

However Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, welcomed the Pope's explanation of the Williamson controversy. He said: "The Pope's letter conveys the essential requirements for inter-religious dialogue: candor and the willingness to tackle difficult issues squarely."

An AP account led with the accurate observation that the Pope's "highly unusual" letter showed the Pontiff's sadness "that even Catholics attacked him with open hostility." The Italian agency ANSA agreed that "it is extremely rare in Church history for a Pope to have to explain his actions to his bishops after the fact and to acknowledge that things went wrong." ANSA quoted an Italian bishop as saying that the Pope's letter "is very personal, very anguished, very pained, but very honest."

 

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Further information:

• Full text of papal letter in official English translation) (VIS)
• Commentary on the Letter by Fr Federico Lombardi (Vatican Radio)
• Pope acknowledges Vatican mistakes in bishop case (AP)
• Pope admits Holocaust denier affair was mishandled (Reuters)
• In Letter to Bishops, Pope Admits ‘Mistakes’ (New York Times)
• Pope admits mistakes in bishops row (ANSA)
• WJC President Lauder praises pope's letter to Catholic bishops (Jerusalem Post
• Pope: We should have Googled Holocaust bishop (CNN)
• Pope Benedict answers critics on SSPX excommunications (CWN Feature, March 11)