The fall of the infallible

The Catholic Church has always based its identity on the infallibility of the pope, the inheritor of the leadership of St Peter's Church. The resignation of the pope and criticism of his papacy beg a very important question of whether the papacy can continue.

Meanwhile another infallible leader might be asked by the Thai prime minister to negotiate at peace talks with southern Thai insurgents. As a major contributor to the recruitment of insurgent forces, this is an ideal situation for him to apologise for his actions, confess his fallibility and hand over the leadership of the Pheu Thai Party.

Richard Bowler

Bangkok