A dose of NYT snarkiness in reaction to the pope's letter

Rachel Donadio of the New York Times gets snarky {my comments in brackets}:

Pope Admits Online News Can Provide Infallible Aid {Haha. Get it? INFALLIBLE aid. I'm so clever.}

The letter released Thursday in which Pope Benedict XVI admitted that the Vatican had made “mistakes” in handling the case of a Holocaust-denying bishop was unprecedented in its directness, its humanity and its acknowledgment of papal fallibility. {not to be confused, of course, with the Pope's charism of infallibility when speaking authoritatively on matters pertaining to faith or morals. Just so we're clear.}

But it also contained two sentences unique in the annals of church history. {unique, sure. important - well, maybe.}

“I have been told that consulting the information available on the Internet would have made it possible to perceive the problem early on,” Benedict wrote. “I have learned the lesson that in the future in the Holy See we will have to pay greater attention to that source of news.” {They could start with subscribing to AmP. Oh wait, they probably already do! ;-) }

In other words: “Note to the Roman Curia: try Google.” {Wow, Rachel, you're about the seven hundredth person to make that suggestion. What incisive advice!}

The Vatican, a 2,000-year-old monarchy built on the ruins of the Roman Empire and run by octogenarians, has officially recognized the demands of the 24-hour news cycle, not a 24-century one. {Oh brother - where did this line come from? I mean, ya know what? The Church will be here in another 2,000 years - and the New York Times won't be. You can quote me on that.}

In his disarmingly human letter, Benedict acknowledged the “avalanche of protests” elicited after he revoked the excommunication of four schismatic bishops in January ... {it's "disarmingly human" only to someone who doesn't know the Pope. C'mon - you're writing for the New York Times for pete's sake - have you been any paying attention at all to who this man is?!}

... In the ensuing weeks, the pope said he had not been aware of Bishop Williamson’s views at the time he revoked the excommunication, and he repeatedly condemned anti-Semitism.

But the criticism did not stop, as Catholics and Jews alike questioned the pope’s moral authority. {His moral authority?! How was it a question about his moral authority?! That's a new one to me. I think some people specifically asked if the Pope endorsed Williamson's kooky views on the Holocaust. That's it.}

... Speaking to reporters at the Vatican on Thursday, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Benedict had taken the criticism to heart. “He demonstrates that he was touched and that he listened to what was said, even on the Internet,” Father Lombardi said. {It's where the game is being played now.}

The rest of the article is rather ho-hum.