[Dr. Eckleburg]

"these separated Churches and communities as such, though we believe they suffer from defects"

Thank you for your excerpt which clearly shows Ratzinger distinguishes between churches and communities. Why? Because a "community" is a group of individuals.

[Petronski]

Thank you for your excerpt which clearly shows Ratzinger distinguishes between churches and communities. Why?

Because some churches refuse to call themselves churches.

[trisham]

I'm afraid that is a misunderstanding of Pope Benedict's words. "these separated Churches and communities as such, though we believe they suffer from defects" is not a criticism of individuals, but of the teachings/beliefs of a church, which of course would be considered to have defects.

If one considered another religion to be without defects, would one then not wish to become a member of that church?