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There is a controversy going on in the Catholic Church over the pope's recent decision to reverse the excommunication of a group of hyper-reactionary priests. The decision raises two different (but it turns out, related) issues:

First: The priests from the ultra-conservative Society of Saint Pius X -- called "Lefebvrists" after their founder, the late Archbishop Marcel-François Lefebvre -- have made it their mission to reject and prevent from taking effect the reforms and teachings of Vatican II.

Second: At least one of the four currently subject to rehabilitation has (as recently as this month) made statements denying the Holocaust.

What is related about the two issues is their chilling effect on Catholic-Jewish relations. It was not until Vatican II that the church abandoned its official position that the Jews murdered Christ. The Lefebvrists reject that revision along with the other teachings of Vatican II. So here are the views that Benedict appears to be assenting to in making peace with this group:

1. The Jews killed Jesus.

2. The World War II Holocaust either never happened or was an accident that the Nazis never planned on happening.

Does this mean that the Vatican is going to endorse a new program of selective obedience? An article in Slate comments on the implications for progressives if Benedict is willing to go along with the conservative brand of cherry picking. In "The Crowded Catholic Cafeteria," Michael Sean Winters writes:

"Benedict's decision is especially difficult to understand when the Vatican is proceeding against two priests for their disagreement with the magisterium of the church. American theologian Roger Haight was recently silenced and forbidden to teach because of concerns about his writings, which the Vatican thought misunderstood the nature of Christ. Rev. Roy Bourgeois, of the Maryknoll order, has been threatened with excommunication because he participated in a ceremony at which women were ordained to the priesthood. Indeed, the similarities between Bourgeois' case and that of the Lefebvrists are uncanny: Both set themselves up in judgment over the magisterial authority of the pope and council; both are implicated in illicit and invalid ordination ceremonies.

"Progressive Catholics are accustomed to being called "cafeteria Catholics" because of the perception that they pick and choose among Catholic teachings, accepting some while ignoring others. But here it is the progressives who are claiming foul and the right wing that is charged with its own bizarre brand of cafeteria Catholicism. Some wish to deny the church's ban on ordaining women; others wish to deny Vatican II's teachings on separation of church and state.

"When the Vatican moves against a renegade theologian, it is easy enough to acknowledge that the church has a right to decide who does and does not speak in its name. No pastor can be indifferent to the possibility of his flock being led astray. But it will be curious to see if the Lefebvrists will reconcile themselves to Vatican II and how much wiggle room the Vatican will allow them in interpreting the documents of that council. The smart money says they will end up biting the papal hand that has just tried to feed them, and Benedict will regret his decision. After all, they are crazy, and crazy people can draw outsiders into their world of mirrors, leaving onlookers to figure out who is sane and who is not. If Benedict wants to make some room for the crazies on the right, I just hope he will give similar latitude to those on the left. We all may be cafeteria Catholics in one way or another."