MADRID, Spain — 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.
But it also contained two sentences unique in the annals of church history.
“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.”
In other words: “Note to the Roman Curia: Try Google.” The Vatican, a 2,000-year-old monarchy built on the ruins of the Roman Empire, has officially recognized the demands of the 24-hour news cycle.
