I have found it rather intriguing that those who most adamantly raise the mantle of tolerance are often more judgmental than those they skewer with barbs for the ‘sin’ of intolerance. They tolerate any act or idea as long as it falls within the strict parameters of their narrow perspective. They often judge the institutions they disdain by the reprobates, whom they would otherwise extol as examples of some false notion of liberty that calls good, evil and evil, good, rather than those the institution esteems as examples of heroism and virtue. When one blindly observes only the morally challenged, judging individuals, institutions or events with any objective standard becomes an impossible feat. For this reason, those who most loudly proclaim themselves open-minded often close their minds to anything that resembles truth since such a realization shatters their hedonistic worldview.
    The case of Father Maciel provides a perfect example of intolerance exhibited by the self-proclaimed tolerant. (For the record, I am in no way directly affiliated with the Legionaries of Christ nor Regnum Christi.) Father Maciel was a fallen man with weaknesses like any other man. Yes, he sinned. That is nothing new. No man is perfect. Every man sins, and even the strongest, most knowledgeable man can commit the most grievous offenses against God and Man. Obviously, Father Maciel’s acts merit condemnation, but we must hope that he repented before his death. Furthermore, we must refrain from condemning an entire organization for the failings of its founder. The Church bears no more guilt for Father Maciel’s sins than She is for mine, though She bears the weight of those sins as Her Bridegroom bore the weight of our sins in the form of the cross.
    These same principles aptly apply to the historical ignorance of Bishop Williamson of the Society of St. Pius X, who foolishly ignores the evidence that six million Jews died at the hand of Hitler’s Nazi regime. (Ironically, many of those who have condemned Bishop Williamson are themselves guilty of ignoring the genocides perpetrated by Communist regimes throughout the twentieth century that dwarf in size and scope the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime during World War II. Furthermore, even the most studious often ignore that Hitler’s atheistic regime murdered an additional four to six million people, most of whom were Christians, and he fully intended the extermination of both Jews and Christians from the face of the earth.) Frankly, Bishop Williamson is not the only fool guilty of historical ignorance. Nor will he be the last fool to deny an historical reality. Regarding the lifting of his excommunication, Bishop Williamson was excommunicated for disobedience, not stupidity. The lifting of his excommunication by the Pope is conditional on Williamson’s repentance of his disobedience and a promise of future obedience. Nor did the Pope, by lifting Williamson’s excommunication, grant him the full use of his faculties as a Bishop. When journalists or authors malign the Church on the basis of false notions, willful ignorance or plain laziness, they demonstrate no less folly than the foolish bishop who denies the historical reality of the Holocaust.
    Nor can any rational man say that the Pope or any other member of the Church is free from folly since like the rest he is subject to the same fallen human condition. The Pope is not infallible in matters of administration, governance nor diplomacy, and I am certain that he understands his weaknesses better than any ignorant journalist who distrusts Papal authority base on false historical and philosophical premises. It is a testament to the truth espoused by the Church that She has survived two thousand years unchanged in the essentials despite the sins of those entrusted with the Shepherd’s staff. It is, after all, Man’s fallen nature that necessitates the institution of the Church. The Church simply provides the remedy for sin not the cause.