B’nai B’rith International (BBI) welcomes the acknowledgment by Pope Benedict XVI that overturning the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop caused a rift in Catholic-Jewish relations.

In a letter to bishops, the pope explained that overturning the excommunications of four so-called Lefebvre bishops, members of the fundamentalist Society of St. Pius X, was meant to unite the church. But he acknowledged that it "suddenly appeared as something completely different: as the repudiation of reconciliation between Christians and Jews." And the pope acknowledged that his effort gave the appearance of backtracking on the crucial reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

The pope also wrote: "A gesture of reconciliation with an ecclesial group engaged in a process of separation thus turned into its very antithesis: an apparent step backwards with regard to all the steps of reconciliation between Christians and Jews taken since the Council – steps which my own work as a theologian had sought from the beginning to take part in and support." The pope said of this development, he "can only deeply regret."

The lifting of the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson was the most controversial aspect of the pope’s recent action. Williamson had asserted that gas chambers were not utilized during the Holocaust, and he also had stated that the Holocaust claimed the lives of no more than 300,000 Jews.

Pope Benedict recognized that “consulting the information available on the internet would have made it possible to perceive the problem early on,” and thanked “our Jewish friends, who quickly helped to clear up the misunderstanding and to restore the atmosphere of friendship and trust.”

BBI is pleased to see the Vatican’s commitment to Catholic-Jewish relations and will continue to work with the Roman Catholic Church to further interfaith sensitivity and partnership. It is our hope that the pope’s visit to Israel in May will provide a special opportunity to strengthen the critical bond between Catholics and Jews.