Meanwhile--and speaking of popes--things are not going well with Benedict following his attempt to rehabilitate outspoken anti-Semite (and misogynistic homophobe) Richard Williamson. Particularly not in Benedict's native Germany.The Clerical Whispers blog has been chock-full of postings lately with clippings from news accounts of the German reaction to Benedict's welcome-back of Richard Williamson (see, e.g., http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2009/02/holocaust-bishop-row-has-undermined.html and http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2009/02/german-pope-becomes-embarrassment-in.html). Even prominent Catholic clerics in Germany are speaking out, including Archbishop Werner Thissen of Hamburg, Bishop Gebhard Fuerst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, and Cardinal Karl Lehmann, former chair of Germany's Catholic bishops' conference.
The Canadian Bishops' Conference has made a statement (www.cccb.ca/site/content/view/2662/1217/lang,eng). A Dutch moral theologian has left the church in protest at Benedict's decision to rehabilitate SSPX (http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2009/02/dutch-ethicist-leaves-rc-church-in.html). A German theologian has called for Benedict to resign (www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/world-news/2009/02/03/pope-benedict-xvi/german-archbishop-calls-for-resignation-over-holocaust-denier-williamson-rehabilitation.html). Austrian lay Catholic groups, already decimated over the years by John Paul II and Benedict in those popes' drive to create a leaner, meaner church, are up in arms (www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jZayBo2K1PwrWfHS8tFcZWKGCJAQ).
And the American bishops? Not so much. Typically pusillinamous. Typically deferential to Rome. The head of the U.S. Bishops' Conference Cardinal Francis George has at last released a statement, which manages to do the traditional balancing act at which the American bishops are so skilled, praising the pope while raising faint questions about his action in this case (www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/us/04brfs-006.html?ref=us).