Saturday, January 24, 2009

Pope Rehabilitates Holocaust Denier

Yeah… that’s not good.

The Pope has lifted the excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church of four bishops appointed by a breakaway archbishop more than 20 years ago.

One of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s appointees, Briton Richard Williamson, outraged Jews by saying the Nazi gas chambers did not exist.

Two of the other three appointees are French while the fourth is Argentinean.

Israel’s envoy to the Vatican said the papal decision would “cast a shadow on relations with Jews”.

For the record, I oppose the laws in Europe in such that makes denying the Holocaust illegal.  I believe in freedom of thought - even if those thoughts are based on ignorance or hate.  But it sure doesn’t look good for the Pope to rehabilitate the guy…

(6) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2259 hrs
Culture

  1. Owen, lifting an order of excommunication merely receives someone back into the Church.  It does not constitute an endorsement of everything he has said or done.  This is part of the process of healing a schism and bring the Lefevbreists into Communion with the Church, not an endorsement of their teachings.

    Now, if the Vatican were to invite him to say Mass at St.Peters or give a speech in front of the “Vatican Forum” I would hope none of us would say that it would be a blast to attend.

    Posted by james wigderson on January 24, 2009 at 2319 hrs


  2. Not too surprising to learn that the MSM account of the situation has clouded and confused the issues.

    Bp. Williamson is a nut.  He has been a nut forever, far as we know.  And those who are screaming loudest about this know EXACTLY what really happened; no matter to them, there’s a political point to be made.

    Here’s a somewhat solid analogy:

    Joe Dumpo plays in the NFL, but was suspended for use of drugs.  After a year or so, Dumpo opines that ‘there were no concentration camps.’

    The NFL lifts the drug-use suspension when Dumpo is tested clean, a year later.

    Just like Dumpo, Williamson will be regarded as a nutcase.  But that doesn’t mean he’s not in the NFL.  He’s a nutcase who plays in the NFL, and Williamson is a nutcase who is a member of the Church.

    Posted by dad29 on January 25, 2009 at 1334 hrs


  3. I also read that the bishop said that 9/11 was a US govt plot.  If he weren’t with the hated Catholic church, he could get a teaching job at UW!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 25, 2009 at 1409 hrs


  4. Actually, he’s not a member in good standing with the Beloved Church, which is the point.

    And I didn’t realize that being Catholic meant automatic exclusion from teaching in the UW system.  It would explain the hostility to life and the falling standards.

    Posted by James Wigderson on January 25, 2009 at 1632 hrs


  5. Actually, he’s not a member in good standing with the Beloved Church, which is the point

      James, unless you read a different story than I did, Williamson is no longer ex-comm’d.  He’s a nut, but ‘in good standing,’ (as much as anyone is.)

    Posted by dad29 on January 25, 2009 at 1743 hrs


  6. He’s also a 9/11 Truther, as Bob pointed out. And he thinks women shouldn’t wear pants or go to a university. I could go on, but that’s not really necessary.

    As I understand it, Williamson got excommunicated automatically because he “supported the schismatic act” of Lefebvre, who had consecrated him without permission, which is itself grounds for automatic excommunication. So it is very much the situation that james and dad point out, which is that now he’s back in because his support for Lefebvre no longer counts against him. If you rehabilitate Lefebvre, you’ve got to let Williamson back in. Now, I’m not sure why you want to put Lefebvre back in posthumously, but that’s another story.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 25, 2009 at 1953 hrs


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