When Nazis and racists deny the Holocaust, what they are saying, in effect, is that they publicly denounce the notion of genocide. After all, they would otherwise hail Hitler's "master plan" as an ingenious idea that was years ahead of its time, and would accept this as an article of faith. Their denial is then a rejection of such policies, by denying that they actually occurred. What they are doing is tantamount to having their cake and eating it too. In a great many cases, they are probably guilty of ideological masturbation.
What Pope Benedict has done in his latest move seems to me to be somewhat the spiritual equivalent of spanking the monkey. The Pope, however, in his infinite wisdom and doctrinal infallibility, is jacking off publicly, and it is not a pretty sight.
First he denounces the statements of Bishope Williamson in the latter's expressed views which amount to Holocaust denial, he reprimands him, and then he expresses what he clearly elaborates as the known and well established Church policy, which almost amounts to a form of Church dogma. Yet, the Bishop himself gets a mere slap on the wrist, if it amounts to even that much. Bear in mind, Williamson made his statements in clear and knowing contradiction of official Church policy. What would the Pope say if Williamson claimed Mary was probably just an unwed pregnant mother who made up a really cool excuse?
Abraham Foxman had this to say about the Pope's astonishing actions-
“You can’t condemn anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial and then reinstate someone who’s a Holocaust denier,” Mr. Foxman said. He called the pope’s statements “significant and very important,” but said they “did not bring closure.”
After the global outcry over Bishop Williamson’s remarks in recent weeks, the Vatican has said that the members of the St. Pius X Society will have to accept the teachings of Vatican II in order to return to full communion with the church. This week, the bishop was removed as the head of his seminary in Argentina.
I see where Foxman is coming from. It's either a matter of personal opinion, or a Bishop is seen as a representative of the church's views and must conform to church dogma. I don't see how Benedict can justify taking both positions simultaneously, but that seems to be what he's doing. He doesn't really know what he's doing, in my opinion. It's obscene for a religious figure to act in such a way, and expect the world's Catholics to sit by and join him in what would amount to one giant public group circle-jerk. His final actions in removing him from his seminary in Argentina would seem to be more of a political response than a spiritual judgment.
Of course, this too is understandable. Most lay Catholics over the course of the last century seem to have wised up over this papal infallibility business, which is now explained as mere doctrinal infallibility. Benedict seems to have failed even that test with this debacle, and explaining away his actions as those of a comparatively weak pope only serves as a further revelation of this divine truth.
