What I would like to know, if Scripture is not the ultimate guide, what the Catholic church uses to determine if it should correct errors of the past? I mean, for example, here we have Benedict saying that Martin Luther wasn’t so bad, but back then they were ready to burn him at the stake.
The Word of God (also called the "Deposit of the Faith") which includes both Scripture and the teachings of Christ as handed on by him to the Apostles, and by the Apostles to their successors. Scripture (New Testament) as we have it today didn't get written down until late in the first century after Christ, at least not as a complete work---that didn't happen until about four hundred years after Christ. Lastly, Scripture itself is a product of the "Tradition" of the Roman Catholic church. ALL the books in the Bibles that Protestants use today were chosen as "God's inerrant writings" by that same Roman Catholic church.
We have a Pope to make such determinations.
I wonder though, how do you answer the same question? If Scripture is the ultimate guide, how do you determine and correct errors of the past?
The media reported that Martin Luther was to be rehabilitated. The Church completely denied that. Martin Luther was a sinful heretic, who continues to sow division in the Church that Christ established, and remains so.