But he is bad at media stuff.  This is old news really–the Pope doesn’t know how to talk to media!  Vatican is too secretive!  Critics learn more than friends!–but it’s still a useful run-down of the Williamson scandal, how the Pope was not nearly as guilty as he appears, and how this whole thing could have been handled much better:

Even among today’s critics who have lashed out at the pope, some remain unaware that Benedict XVI had not known about Williamson’s appalling views, and when he was informed, the pope quickly issued a public statement to disassociate himself from Holocaust deniers. Others do not realize that Benedict XVI had not restored Williamson and the other SSPX bishops to regular status. Those four bishops are still suspended from public ministry; the lifting of their excommunications was only one step in a process of reconciliation. But the media message that carried the day: Williamson, an anti-Semite, was back in business.

Yet the story has even more depth and context that the Vatican failed effectively to correct: Neither Williamson’s original excommunication in 1988 nor the pope’s decision to revoke it were related in any way to his extreme political views. Under the canon law that governs church affairs, excommunication is a rare disciplinary action, used only for certain specific offenses (such as, in this case, ordaining a bishop without approval from the Holy See). The church does not formally excommunicate members for their political views, even when those views are repugnant to Catholic teachings — as, for example, in the case of Catholic politicians who favor unrestricted legal abortion.

Bishop Williamson poses a special case, of course, because a bishop is a public leader, a teacher of the faithful. But again, Williamson is still suspended; he is not functioning as a bishop with the authorization of the church.

All these points of clarification could and should have been made on Jan. 24, along with the original announcement of the pope’s decision to end the excommunications.

Instead, the Vatican let 12 agonizing days pass before the Secretariat of State released an unsigned statement in a tardy effort to clear up misunderstandings. The pope’s move “has not changed the legal situation” of the SSPX bishops, the statement observed; they are still suspended and will remain so until they demonstrate their “total adherence to the doctrine and discipline of the church.” Williamson in particular will be obliged to “absolutely, unambiguously, and publicly distance himself from this position on the Holocaust.”

Unfortunately, the international outcry was already far advanced. The Vatican press office had fallen behind the news cycle, and editorial writers were now responding to each other rather than to the original announcement. Denunciations of the pope — often based on inaccurate reports, and without the context outlined above — continued even after the record had been set straight.