Posted on 01/28/2009 11:11:13 AM PST by forkinsocket
This is pure ignorance or spreading misinformation. The lifting of excommunication had nothing whatsoever to do with the Holocaust denials, which have already been condemned. This bishop was one of a number of renegade bishops involved in the illicit consecration of bishops by SSPX, which was in fact the chief ground for excommunication in the first place.
The Pope has no control over these people, who are basically outside the Church and run their own operation. He cannot remove them from office because he didn’t install them in the first place.
This pope has spent much of his life trying to build better relations with religious Jews. It’s too bad when you get a hasty reaction like this, hitting out against a friend on the word of trouble makers who are perhaps less supportive of Israel than the Pope.
The Pope must not let himself be stampeded by onlookers. He has his reasons for his decision, and I trust he knows what he is doing, just as he did at Regensburg. Critic Rosen didn't get that either, but it has been a good thing with the passage of time.
The nutcase Williamson probably hasn't had a single thought uninfected with anti-Semitism since he was just a wee lad.
For Catholics, the Holocaust is a matter of history, not religion. Those for whom it is a religion will have to accept that — esp. if they want to paint Christian “proselytising” as objectionable.
The Vatican, like Cicero said, is not involved because there's not ful reconciliation yet. Even if it were, there aren't any provisions in canon law that I'm aware of for deposing/excommunicating a bishop simply on his historical beliefs. The most that the Vatican could do would be to take exception to his remarks, which they have.
Williamson is, however, in a religious order, and his Superior has just ordered him to shut up on matters of history. So a censure has indeed been applied.
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Williamson holds strong views regarding gender roles and dress. He opposes the wearing of trousers or shorts by women,[43][44][45] and has urged greater "manliness" in men.[44][45]
Williamson promoted conspiracy theories regarding the Kennedy assassination and the September 11 attacks, claiming that the latter were staged by the US government.[45][3][46]
Williamson has expressed controversial views about Jews. He called Jews "enemies of Christ" and urges their conversion to Catholicism.[47][48][49] He claims that Jews and Freemasons have contributed to the "changes and corruption" in the Catholic Church[50][51][52][47] He has also stated that Jews aim at world dominion[3][53] and believes The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to be authentic.[3][54] Williamson has denied that he is anti-semitic, stating that he goes against "adversaries of Our Lord Jesus Christ", that not all Jews are such, and that he also attacks other groups such as Communists and Freemasons.[3][47][48][38]
Williamson has been charged with Holocaust denial.[47][52][55][51][56] He has denied the existence of gas chambers and has claimed that not six million but 200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps.[17][15] Williamson has also praised Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel.[47][51][52][48]
Williamson's Wikipedia entry
The excommunication and thus the de-excommunication had nothing to do with Williamson’s nutty historical views, and the Vatican has made it clear that it is not an endorsement of those views. This reaction by the Chief Rabbi seems like a overreaction by someone who deliberately wants to distort the meaning of what the Pope did.
Was he reinstated as a bishop or just have the ban of excommunication lifted?
lol...Williamson is a “truther” (9/11 conspiracy nut) as well? He’s a man of many tinfoil wardrobes.
The Jews and George Bush are fair game, but attacking Daisy Dukes? DAMN him! |
Well said. That was what I was trying to indicate.
You can’t give the boot to someone who already walked out the door on his own perverse initiative.
Pope Benedict specifically rebuked Williamson's holocaust denial, and Bernard Fellay (leader of the group to which Williamson belongs) told Williamson to shut up.
Both rebukes are the subject of threads on this forum.
The rest ... there's just not much that can be done.
OK, thanks
So Williamson has personal opinions on non-religious matters. What’s your point?
Jesus Christ himself couldn't please people like this.
Come to think of it, He already tried . . . .
If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Well, I’m sure that Catholics would be suitable outraged in the following scenario:
Let’s say, after an Islamic dictator killed off half the world’s population of Catholics...
...that the Grand Mufti in Mecca then brought back into the fold an imam that said it never happened at all.
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