You're Too Much, Pope

"Olmert Confirms Papal Visit to Israel"; By Isabel Kershner; A8

Pope Benedict XVI has demonstrated quite a lot of gall by declaring last Thursday that he will visit Israel after reinstating Bishop Richard Williamson, a Holocaust denier, several weeks ago. 

 

Israel is now in the uncomfortable position of playing host to a man who displayed remarkable hypocrisy by calling Holocaust denial intolerable while bringing Williamson back into the fold. If Benedict's demand of the Bishop to recant is satisfied, then Benedict will be vindicated, but why a recant was not a pre-condition of reinstatement evidences the Pope's problematic priorities. 

Since pontific visits are exquisitely rare, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is hardly in a position not to welcome the Pope. Benedict's arrogance is on full display for the world. First, he insults the Jewish people, then he awards us with his presence. 

The silence of American Catholic leaders is deafening. Isabel Kershner should have sought out a statement from a prominent Catholic leader who disagrees with the Pope's actions.

 

The bishop's reinstatement and last year's beatification of the infamous Pope Pius XII serve as reminders to Jews that the bitter history of the Jews and the Vatican continues into the present day.