Those with an ax to grind about the Catholic Church, the papacy in general, and Pope Benedict XVI in particular, point to the Pope’s recent apologies about a variety of subjects as evidence of the Church’s failure and the absurdity of the doctrine of papal infallibility. In doing so, they miss a critical lesson about the real meaning of perfection and what it means to love deeply — a lesson which can enrich all of our lives, Catholic or not.
I will leave a full explanation of the Doctrine of Infallibility to those who believe in it. But this much I know, it’s far more complex than the commonly accepted notion that the Pope, by virtue of his office, can not make a mistake. So instead of using the missteps of those whose beliefs we do not share to prove how smart we are for choosing not to do so, we can learn from this phenomenon of a global religious leader having the moral courage and spiritual sensitivity to apologize for his actions.

The Pope’s apologies remind me of the ancient practice described in Leviticus, Chapter 6, in which the Kohen Gadol, the Israelite High Priest atoned for his own personal sins before attempting to do so for the rest of the community on Yom Kippur. He did so, in full public view and with great ceremony.
The High Priest’s willingness to admit and atone for his own sins made him a better advocate on behalf of his people. He was a better priest, not because he was perfect, but because he appreciated that he and those he served were profoundly alike in their spiritual struggles.
There may be much wrong with the Roman Catholic Church, and Pope Benedict’s statements about Islam, Holocaust denying Bishops, and sex abuse by priests. But his willingness to offer apologies for those statements and the hurt they have caused, remind us that sacredness and imperfection can coexist quite nicely. None of us, not even the Pope, needs to be perfect in order to be close to the God in whom we believe.
In a world which promises picture perfect everything, Pope Benedict reminds us of the ancient biblical insight that among the definitions of infallible, is the unfailing nature of our commitment to the tradition and the people we love. Neither needs to be flawless to be perfect; they simply need to be perfect for us. And when they are, members are free to criticize, leaders able to apologize and the rest of us able to learn from both.