in february 2011, following public controversies with respect to bishop richard williamson's denial of the holocaust and the regensburg lecture's impact on christian-muslim relations, fisichella dismissed the idea of assessing the papacy of pope benedict xvi as premature. he said: "we're still at the beginning of a pontificate, and in my opinion it's always difficult to make judgments or offer a far-ranging analysis at the beginning... a sense of history should make us prudent and cautious from this point of view."