 |
| Jews |
| |
| Q |
Did the Pope recently apologize for the wrong doings of the church during the holocast? I didn't think Catholics did anything wrong to apologize, am I wrong? |
|
- Joe |
| |
| A |
Dear Joe,
I'm Catholic and I've done things that are wrong, wrong, wrong. I suspect you may have messed up once or twice in your life also. We are in the Church, of the Church; We are the body of Christ. So--the Church makes mistakes.
The Pope set a high standard, an inspiring example, by apologizing for the failures of the Church hierarchy and of its members to speak up for the Jews. After all, it wasn't Pope John Paul II personally who made these errors. But he is speaking of historical errors--some of it may have been cowardice; some of it poor judgment--made by the Church.
He has also apologized for the Church's condemnation of Galileo--as well as other blots on our shared history.
You may be thinking of the principle of infallibility--but that only applied in very limited circumstances, which were not invoked in the original actions that warranted apologies, nor by this pope in making apologies |
|
- Carol Ann |
|
|