German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Pope Benedict XVI may have kissed and made up – figuratively speaking, of course.

Merkel and Benedict have been in a very public row after Benedict lifted the excommunication of British Bishop Richard Williamson, a Holocaust denier. That move didn’t go over well in Merkel’s Germany, and the Chancellor called on the Vatican to clarify its position on the Holocaust. The Vatican later did an about-face and ordered Williamson to recant his comments before returning to the Church.

Despite the public spat, Merkel and Benedict seem to have made up. They spoke on the phone over the weekend, upon Merkel’s request, and later issued a joint statement saying they had mended their fences. Merkel initiated the "good and constructive conversation" and it was characterized by "common deep concern about the perpetual warning of the Shoah for humanity." "Shoah" is a Hebrew word for the Holocaust.

Williamson is one of four bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St. Pius X whose excommunication was lifted by the Vatican last month. He apologized to Benedict for having stirred up trouble, but has not taken back his comments. He thinks only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews were killed during World War II – not the estimated six million, many of whom were gassed to death. The German weekly Der Spiegel reported that he has rejected a suggestion that he might visit the former Auschwitz death camp.