"We are sorry if we did over react"

Rabbi Irwin Kula has written about the extreme reaction to the Williamson affair. At the Washington Post you can see the full text of the article. (H/T Fr Z). Rabbi Kula concludes:
Finally, when the Pope as well as key Vatican officials said within a day that Williamson’s views are "absolutely indefensible" and that in the Pope’s own words, the Church feels "full and indispensable solidarity with Jews against any Holocaust denial" where was a little humility in response? Wouldn’t it have been interesting, yet alone ethically compelling, for those who initially lashed out to have acknowledged that perhaps they did overreact and that they do know that the Church and specifically this Pope are very sensitive to these issues. But that we ask the Pope and church hierarchy to please understand that, whether fully justified or not, we are still very very raw and very vulnerable regarding the Holocaust and so we are sorry if we did over react and we are deeply grateful for the Pope’s unambiguous reiteration of that which we do know is his view and is contemporary Catholic teachings.
This is a most sensible response, likely to help along Catholic-Jewish relations and I am deeply grateful to the Rabbi for his wise words.

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