Comment on the furore surrounding the lifting of the excommuncations

Catholic Analysis has offered some forthright comment on the recent media controversy. It goes across several posts, so here are the links in chronological order of posting (the link to the blog main page in the previous sentence can be used to find further posts as they occur):

Post, with comments, of a statement by Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The full text of the statement from the Vatican Secretariat of State on 4th February, with comments.

This post reports on action that the Society of St Pius X appears to be taking against those in its ranks who deny the Holocaust, and links to a Washington Post article that puts the recent controversy into a wider, and perhaps more important, context for the Church.

I found two points from these posts quite important. The first is that the anger at Bishop Williamson's remarks about the Holocaust is not confined to "liberals". This is Catholic Analysis's own comment to this effect:

It also needs to be made clear that the outrage over the Williamson denial of the Holocaust is shared by many conservative Catholics who do not take second place to anyone anywhere in their support of Pope Benedict XVI. This point must be made because of the silly, paranoid statements by some internet "traditionalists" that the outrage has been entirely concocted by a conspiracy of so-called "liberals" in the Church.

The second point, made very clear in the statement from the Vatican Secretariat of State, is the need for the Society of St Pius X to accept in full the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and Popes John XXIII and successors before any reconciliation of the Society with the Roman Catholic Church is possible:

For a future recognition of the Fraternity of St. Pius X, the full recognition of the Second Vatican Council and the magisterium of Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI himself is an indispensable condition.

The statement from the Vatican Secretariat of State ended with this paragraph:

The Holy Father asks accompaniment in prayer from all the faithful, that the Lord may enlighten the path of the Church. May there be an increase in the determination of the pastors and all the faithful in support of the delicate and heavy mission of the Successor of the Apostle Peter as "guardian of the unity" of the Church.

I wonder whether, at some point in the future, there will be doctoral theses written on Pope Benedict's understanding of his Petrine ministry as being one of "guardian of the unity" of the Church? But, at the present time, we can join in with the requested prayers ...