I previously I speculated about what was behind this move:

Why would the Pope want to reach out to these folks? Simple, this is a pontiff obsessed with supposed schemes of secular moral relativism and nihilism. Quite possibly in an effort to buttress socially conservative support within the Church, he moved towards the reconciliation with this group of traditionalist renegades (No such outreach to a more loyal group such as Call to Action.

And in the rush to add supporters for his often reactionary agenda for the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict failed to consult with others on his outreach to SSPX. The refreshingly forward-thinking Cardinal Walter Kasper (who was not advised of the pope's decision in advance) openly complained, "There wasn't enough talking with each other in the Vatican and there are no longer checks to see where problems could arise."

Cardinal Kasper's grumblings should matter quite a bit; after all, he is the Vatican's chairman of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. Beyond that, there was no discussion of the matter with Jewish leaders, the German Chancellor or other German Catholic clergy.

But perhaps more importantly, this tone-deafness reeks of an arrogance that epitomizes a movement conservatism within the Church that falls victim to own sloppiness. A mere Google search could have easily disclosed Bishop Williamson's The Children of Light and The Children of Darkness. At page 151 the great Christian writer speaks of the need for denominations to practice humility:

But religious humility is no simple moral or political achievement. It springs only from the depth of a religion which confronts the individual with a more ultimate majesty and purity than all human majesties and values, and persuades them to confess: "Why callest thou me good? There is no good but one, that is, God.

I ask as a Catholic, where does the current Pope define such ultimate majesty? Does he find it in the suffering of six million Jews, the legacy of Father Maximilian Kolbe or does he find it in returning the Church to a more authoritarian pre-Vatican II past; one that has no second thoughts about seeing its morality as the model and the goal for all secular states?

Sadly, Niebuhr's concept of humility has obviously been lost on the current pontiff and his inner circle.