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Blunders and Blessings

Judging from some of the reported reactions to Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Israel this week, one might be forgiven for imagining that the pontiff had publicly denied the Holocaust and admitted to Nazi sympathies. In truth, of course, he did the opposite. He cut a dignified and humble figure throughout the trip. And At […]

Judging from some of the reported reactions to Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Israel this week, one might be forgiven for imagining that the pontiff had publicly denied the Holocaust and admitted to Nazi sympathies.

In truth, of course, he did the opposite. He cut a dignified and humble figure throughout the trip. And At Yad Vashem memorial, he said: “May the names of these victims never perish! May their suffering never be denied, belittled or forgotten! And may all people of goodwill remain vigilant in rooting out from the heart of man anything that could lead to tragedies such as this!” Hardly mincing his words.

But he did not jump through the various PR hoops that the media had set up for him. He did not apologize for Christian anti-Semitism, denounce the war-time Pius XII as a closet Nazi, discuss his own forced service in Hitler Youth, or repeat his regret for the damage to Christian-Jewish relations caused by his lifting of the excommunication on the holocaust-denying British Bishop Richard Williamson. Thus the headlines reported Jewish “disappointment” and “anger” at Benedict’s insensitivity.

No doubt plenty of Catholics are distressed, too, to see yet more PR bungling from the Holy See. (Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vatican press spokesman, unhelpfully decided to announce at a Jerusalem press conference that the Pope had “never, never, never” been in the Hitler Youth. This is false.)

But it is not altogether surprising that Pope Benedict neglected to play the media-spin game. In fact, he had reminded reporters before leaving Rome this month that he is not a politician. He does not regard papal pilgrimages as opportunities to polish the Catholic brand. As John Allen puts it, he “seems to believe that occasions for grappling with the deepest and most painful mysteries about God’s plan require something more from a pope than good image management”. Exactly.

PS. Here’s a good piece from my old colleague Simon Caldwell debunking some of the often-hurled calumnies against Pius XII.

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