A Pope, not a Politician

Here's a nice article by Fr. Roger J. Landry in defense of the pope.

If the Pope behaved like a politician rather than a father, he probably would not have lifted the excommunications. It was a magnanimous, courageous move fraught with risks. First, many within the Church seem prone to view the possible return of the 1.5 million members of Society with as much enthusiasm as the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son for the homecoming of his wayward sibling. Benedict, however, has the perspective of the father in the parable, which is the only truly Christian frame of reference. There will obviously be issues of reintegration, since many members of the Society have entrenched misunderstandings of what the Second Vatican Council actually teaches and why, not to mention their vehement criticisms of the post-conciliar liturgical, doctrinal and moral free-for-all that the Council never sought nor sanctioned. Benedict probably anticipated that for that reason some would falsely conclude that this move toward reconciliation was a move away from the Second Vatican Council, which it clearly is not. Benedict seems hopeful, however, in the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome these obstacles.