More Than 70 Bishops With Chests

From Zenit:

More than 70 bishops participating in a seminar organized by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications are assuring Benedict XVI of their fidelity and solidarity.

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, delivered a letter Friday to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, in which the prelates declare their support for the Pope who has been under attack during the last months.

The Pontiff issued a decree in January that lifted the excommunication of four Lefebvrite bishops, one of whom was Bishop Richard Williamson. Days earlier, the bishop claimed in an interview taped in November for Swedish television that historical evidence denies the gassing of Jews in Nazi concentration camps.

The concurrence of the two events served to strain relations between the Vatican and Jewish leaders, as well as spark a wave of attacks against the Pope and the Curia.

In a letter published Thursday, Benedict XVI explained that he had made the decision to lift the excommunications as a "gesture of mercy" to promote the peace and internal unity of the Church, and that he was in the dark about Bishop Williamson's declarations denying the Holocaust.

The 70 prelates thanked the Pope for his explanatory letter, and expressed their "nearness," saying they take comfort "for the carrying out of our daily work" from the Pope's own letter.

The prelates wrote of their sentiments of solidarity and unconditional fidelity.