My friend,

Obviously, you are a smart man! In no way do I intend to defend the decision of the Pope. That is between him and God. All I intend to do is clarify the Catholic teaching of infallibility. The Pope, priest and any figure of the Catholic faith are still human. As humans, we are far from perfect. That is just our nature. We look to these people as leaders and spiritual guides. Nowhere does the church state that the Pope is infallible. This teaching is only relfected when the Pope declares Dogma; a teaching of faith or belief that has been revealed through prayer and meditation. Even then, the Pope must go through proper channels of declaring a Dogma. Please do your research before you mislead your readers. Catholicism is the only acceptable prejudice left.

I actually assumed that it was about the "sedevacantist" (the seat is vacant) movements which deny the legitimacy of any pope since Pius X.

I think that Catholic doctrine is that the Pope is infallible on matters of doctrine. That said, a bishop's ?ordination is the only measure of his "bishopness", if that is in order, then his habits of Holocaust denial, pistol-whipping parishoners, or buggering badgers notwithstanding.

Popes are not infallible in matters of ordinary wisdom, and Benedict is more concerned with reconciling dissidents who reject Vatican II than with the papacy's Holocaust problem.

when expressly speaking "ex cathedra" on matters of doctrine. (Of course, accepting that as true means havaing to believe in things like virgin births.)

As for the revoking of the excommunication, I find it hard to fathom what the reasoning was here. If the Pope thinks that pandering to these far right Lefebverist loonies will strengthen the Church, he is sadly mistaken. All he has done is strengthen the common view of these groups as dangerous, a la "The DaVinci Code." First the Church legitimizes Opus Dei, and now this group? Maybe Benedict is the radical that many feared.

Mr. Rothkopf,

The above accusations are completely out of line, and you will only get away with the accusations because of your Jewish blood.

The Bible, The Torah, and many other religious writings speak of forgiveness, with the Torah stating "forgiveness is natural to the seed of Israel" (Teshuvah 2:10).

We all recognize the fact that that Bishop in question is completely wrong when he stated "I believe there were no gas chambers", but no one really has a good idea of how many Jews died in the holocaust. The initial numbers of deaths were put as high as 12 million by the Soviets in order to demonize the Nazi regime even more (not that it needed to be). But that is not the question. It wouldn't have mattered if 12 million, 6 million, or 1 million died, it was genocide. Genocide against a beautiful and lasting religion such as Judaism. But the fact of someone's lack of academic research or ignorance is not a reason for not forgiving.

Also, in regards to your comments about the Catholic Church ignoring the Holocaust, that is an absolute falsehood and I would ask you to present evidence of such damnation. The Catholic Church under Pope Pius XII's leadership is credited with saving more Jewish lives in the face of the Holocaust than any other agency, government or entity at the time. Those who lack historical knowledge insist that the Catholic Church was a culprit, but that is not so, the Catholic Church was a savior, albeit limited due to the location of the Church, but according to some source, the Catholic Church saved almost 1 million Jewish lives.

That is all for now, but I look forward to reading more of your blogs in the future, hopefully with more historical accuracy.

Sincerely,

Z. Ripp

Dear Mr. Rothkopf,

It would not be useful to go through the teaching of the Church on papal infallibility again, as the comments above have amply pointed out the egregious -- and surprisingly basic -- flaw in your "logic" with respect to this issue. Suffice it to say that one who writes for a serious publication such as FP is certainly expected to have more than a juvenile understanding of a topic of such great significance to millions of Catholics worldwide.

Which brings us to your point, one that is similar in nature to the point I have just made: a bishop who is given the sacred charge of tending to the spiritual needs of the faithful ought to have more than a juvenile understanding of the facts of the Shoah and the impact his statements will have on millions of Jewish faithful worldwide. On this point, we are agreed.

The Church, however, remains absolutely unsullied in its decision regarding the SSPX, as (yet again) the application of even the most basic logic should reveal. In the first place, if the bishop in question is schismatic (which he was until this decision), the Church has no authority to instruct, chastise and/or censure him. By bringing him back into the fold, one imagines and hopes that the Church, guided as She is by the Holy Spirit, will bring to bear love and, yes, facts in addressing his academic and diplomatic shortcomings. Second, the question put before the Church was whether Bishop Lefebvre and the other members of SSPX are, in fact, in communion with the Church on the basis of adherence to the doctrine and dogmatic teachings of the Church. If the answer is "yes", it applies to all who fit within this category. This is not a case of legalisms trumping wisdom; rather, it is the culmination of a long period of soul-searching and prayer within the Church as a whole having nothing to do with the controversy now raised and having everything to do with the relationship between the Church and a group of truly devout, faithful and committed traditionalists. On this question alone Pope Benedict XVI was asked to decide and on this question he did not err. It is a happy day for the Church to welcome these faithful back into the fold, and the hierarchy can now address in a thoughtful and prayerful manner this new controversy.

I close by suggesting that respect and understanding flow from love and are most meaningful when mutual. We Catholics understand the painful memory of Jews that is the Holocaust (I, in fact, am married to a Jew), but to villify the Pope, an amazingly spiritual and intellectual man of peace, for the views of one wayward bishop is a failure of understanding and hardly a demonstration of respect.

Best regards,

Patrick F. Campos