We knew this was coming, and here it is:

A Vatican document has reaffirmed the supremacy of the Catholic Church over alternative Christian churches by labelling them “defective.”The 16-page pamphlet, published on Tuesday by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and endorsed by Pope Benedict XVI, does not differ substantially from a previous document, Dominus Iesus, produced by the same Vatican office in 2000 and which addressed similar issues.

Dominus Iesus, compiled by now Pope Joseph Ratzinger when he was the Congregation’s president, had sparked angry reactions, particularly among protestants in Germany and Britain.

Experts in Rome expected the new document to produce similar responses.

Moreover, its publication came just days after Jewish groups expressed disappointment at the pope’s decision to revive traditional Latin Masses, suggesting Benedict would likely be confronted with new obstacles on the path of inter-religious dialogue in the weeks to come.

Signed by the Congregation’s prefect, Cardinal William Levada, the document is entitled Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church.

Its authors write that it seeks to address “erroneous” interpretations and theological “misunderstandings” deriving from the adoption of the Second Vatican Council, set up in the 1960s with the declared aim of modernizing the Church.

Much of the confusion, it is argued, appears to stem from the fact that the Council Fathers described the Catholic Church as “subsisting in” rather than “being in” the Church of Christ.

The use of the term “subsist” has led some theologians to argue that other Christian Churches should enjoy similar status to the Roman Catholic Church.

Tuesdays’ document rejects this interpretation, arguing that “separated churches” and communities such as protestant groups “suffer from defects.”

You can read the whole document at the Holy See’s website, right here.

Perhaps the pontiff picked a very good time to get out of town.

Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be an interesting summer.