Pope Benedict XVI has lifted the excommunications of four bishops, including Holocaust denier Bishop Williamson. The four were excommunicated 20 years ago. The Vatican said Saturday that Benedict rehabilitated the four as part of his efforts to bring Lefebvre’s Society of St. Pius X back into the Vatican’s fold.
Only days before the pope’s announced decision, Bishop Richard Williamson was seen on Swedish television speaking of historical evidence which is “strongly against reports of 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed.
Following is the official Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum response to the Vatican decision.
“The reinstatement is an internal Church matter. However, it is scandalous that someone of this stature in the Church denies the Holocaust.
“Denial of the Holocaust not only insults the survivors, memory of the victims, and the Righteous Among the Nations who risked their lives to rescue Jews, it is a brutal attack on Truth.
“Even if the revocation of the excommunication is unrelated to Williamson’s comments regarding the Holocaust, what kind of message is this sending regarding the Church’s attitude toward the Holocaust?
“Although we understand that Williamson’s statements do not represent the Church’s stance, we continue to hope that the Church will vigorously condemn these unacceptable and odious comments.”
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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5 Responses
Although I applaud Yad Vashem’s dignified response, they are wrong. This German Pope is exactly as we feared he would be. Having said that, whether he is pro- or anti-Semitic doesn’t change the fact that we are, as always, standing alone. So be it. Their Pope will get his in the Next World. There’s a special place in Gehennom for these anti-semites. Unfortunately, it’s getting bigger by the day, which just shows how many there are in THIS world.
I don’t see what one thing has to do with the other. If he had been excommunicated for his antisemitism or Holocaust denial, then it would be outrageous for that to be lifted. But antisemitism and Holocaust denial aren’t excommunicable offenses in the RC Church; he was excommunicated for accepting a bishopric from LeFebvre, and now that the Pope is trying to make peace with LeFebvre it makes sense to lift all the excommunications that were issued during the fight. It would be strange to leave one of them out, just because of his views on an unrelated topic.
As for “this German Pope”, that’s racist. The Pope was not a Nazi, was not from a Nazi-supporting family, and has shown no sign of antisemitism before or after taking office, but certain people are always looking for any excuse to attack him just because he’s German. The Vatican as an institution is hostile to Israel, but that has nothing to do with any individual pope.
1. No, he did not.
2. Yes, he’s German. So what? Is antisemitism in German genes? And yes, like every German boy he was a member of Hitler youth – he had no choice. But he never attended a meeting, or wore the uniform, or did anything that he didn’t have to do.
3. What’s absurd is to think that the Vatican, the oldest bureaucracy in the world, allows its policy to be controlled by whoever happens to be pope at the moment, that is truly absurd. Even in the USA, how much influence do presidents have on the State Department or the CIA? We’ve just gone through 8 years of the CIA waging almost open war against the sitting president.
There is no question that the Pope is religious figure that influences a large part of the world. His actions, even if he was a robot controlled by a governing group can have devastating effects on Jews for a long time. Can anyone say that this organization didn’t influence the killing and torture of millions of Jews throughout the centuries? His current action is detestable. Can an undetestable do detestible things?
jews
1. I am not an apologist for Hitler Youth, and I demand that you withdraw that accusation immediately,
2. Where did you come up with the idea that Martino is the pope’s spokesman? The article you linked to doesn’t say anything of the sort – in fact the string “spok” doesn’t even appear in it. Were you hoping nobody would follow the link and find out that you lied?
3. The Vatican is not a democracy; it’s a bureaucracy. And it’s got 1000 years of experience in how to handle popes. Popes come and go, but the Vatican stays. Even in the USA, which IS a democracy, see how the State Department and the CIA set their own policies and ignore or undermine any president who disagrees with them. Kal vachomer the Vatican.
4. How is it detestable to remove a cherem from a group of people, once the reason for it has gone away? Williamson is certainly detestable, but that’s not why he was put into cherem in the first place, so it shouldn’t affect his removal from cherem now. Being an antisemite and Holocaust denier isn’t a valid reason for excommunication in canon law. Accepting a bishopric from an excommunicated person is, and that’s what Williamson got excommunicated for; now that the pope wants to make peace with Lefebvre, it makes sense to lift it.