Letter: The blame game

The acknowledgement by the former Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, that he and his church have decided after two millennia that Jews were not after all responsible for the alleged death of Christ (your report, 2 March) should be welcomed.

This is a tacit admission that the previous popes, who presided over officially sanctioned antisemitism, were not after all infallible as proclaimed by dogma.

If the church can admit that it is fallible and that its position on the guilt of the Jews was wrong then surely it is time for it to drop other outdated dogma and prejudices.

The proscription on priests marrying, opposition to birth control, the ordination of women, stem cell research, sex education and their bigoted view of homosexuals should all now be reversed as they are all vile.

To hide behind scripture as a cover for superstition and bigotry is a cowardly cop-out. Scripture can and has been used to justify antisemitism but nobody would countenance that today.

It is equally invalid to use it to argue for social reaction against people's rights.

Alan Hinnrichs

Gillespie Terrace Dundee