By Teodoro Bacani Jr.

Pope Benedict XVI recently did a very extraordinary and admirable thing in the history of the papacy: he admitted concrete mistakes in the actions he had failed to take in connection with the lifting of the excommunication of four bishops consecrated in 1988 by Archbishop Lefebvre without a mandate of the Holy See. One of the bishops turned out to be a denier of the holocaust, and the lifting of the excommunication seemed to many to be a repudiation of the reconciliation between Christians and Jews, and so there was an uproar against the pope’s action.

Pope John Paul II issued many apologies and acts of contrition in the name of the Church for the sins of the leaders and members of the Church against certain persons or groups of people. Toward the end of his life, he openly asked for forgiveness for the misdeeds of the Inquisition. And He even celebrated a solemn rite to ask forgiveness during Lent of the Jubilee Year 2000 for the sins of the Church’s leaders, both past and present. But, as far as I can recall, neither Pope John Paul II nor any of the popes since the Council of Trent have ever publicly expressed regret for their own personal failures regarding concrete actions which they had taken. This is the remarkable thing that Pope Benedict XVI did in a letter dated March 10 to his brother bishops of the Catholic Church, a letter which was intended to be available to all because it was posted on the Internet. He apologized for failing to take two courses of action in connection with the lifting of the excommunication of the four bishops.

First, the pope noted that the remission or lifting of the excommunication “has, for many reasons caused, both within and beyond the Catholic Church, a more heated discussion than any we have seen for a long time.” There was perplexity among many bishops, and the question was raised about the fittingness of the gesture. According to the pope, some groups even “openly accused [him] of wanting to turn back the clock to before the Council: as a result, an avalanche of protests was unleashed, whose bitterness laid bare wounds deeper than those of the present moment.” Hence, the pope thought of issuing a clarification which he hoped would contribute to peace in the Church.

While not admitting that he committed a mistake in lifting the excommunication, Pope Benedict XVI did accept that he had failed to consult information available on the Internet. In his words: “I have been told that consulting the information available on the Internet would have made it possible to perceive the problem early on.” And so he has decided that “in the future, the Holy See we will have to pay greater attention to that source of news.

Then he proceeded to say: “Another mistake, which I deeply regret, is the fact that the extent and limits of the provision of Jan. 21 (for the lifting of the excommunication) were not clearly and adequately explained at the moment of its publication.” The pope went on to clarify that while the excommunication of the four bishops had been lifted, they could not do legitimate ministry in the Church as long as the Society of St. Pius X, the group of Archbishop Lefebvre, does not possess canonical status in the Church. In other words, while they are no longer excommunicated, the four bishops cannot yet perform legitimate ministry in the Catholic Church.

It is indeed extraordinary that the Pope has made such a public admission of mistakes, and has expressed regret over them. Also, he has shown willingness to take measures which would prevent such mistakes happening in the future. We are definitely far from the era of Blessed Pius IX, St. Pius X, or even Pius XII. It must have taken Pope Benedict XVI a big dose of humility to make such a public gesture for the sake of peace in the Church. Through this extraordinary action, the pope’s moral stature has not been diminished; in fact, it has grown.

Catholics should not expect to have a pope who does not make any mistakes in making concrete decisions of governance. The Church teaches that the pope is indeed infallible, but only when he makes ex-cathedra pronouncements, that is, when as supreme teacher and pastor of the whole Church he defines a teaching regarding faith and morals. In this particular matter, the pope’s mistakes were omissions of actions which he could have profitably done. To publicly admit such human mistakes shows him to be a humble leader; it is good for his soul and ours.