Posted on 10/28/2009 6:54:07 AM PDT by NYer
A British bishop has been fined €12,000 after a German court found him guilty of denying the Holocaust.
Richard Williamson received a letter today from the court in the Bavarian city of Regensburg informing him that he was being fined for incitement over his claim on Swedish television that fewer than 300,000 Jews died in Nazi death camps.
In the interview, Williamson alleged that Nazi gas chambers had never existed and "only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews" had been killed by the Nazis.
Holocaust denial is classed as a hate crime in Germany and because the interview took place in Regensburg, German prosecutors were allowed to investigate.
The bishop's remarks were made public in January, shortly after Pope Benedict XVI repealed an order made by the previous pope excommunicating Williamson for his rightwing views. Williamson was consecrated a bishop by the pope's Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), an ultraconservative splinter group.
The outcry was immediate, with both Jews and members of the Catholic hierarchy criticising the pope's rehabilitation of a Holocaust-denier. While condemning Williamson's remarks, the Vatican defended its decision, only saying later that it hadn't known about his very public views about the Holocaust.
Williamson has said through his lawyer that he was assured his offending remarks would not be broadcast in Germany but only in Sweden, where there is no law against Holocaust denial. A Munich newspaper, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, said prosecutors had received a letter from the Swedish television producers in which they denied offering any assurance to Williamson that the interview, conducted in English, would be broadcast in Sweden only.
Williamson's German lawyer, Matthias Lossmann, said his client had been told to pay €100 a day for 120 days, and he was likely to appeal.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
ROME (JTA) -- Relations with the Jewish world appears to be one topic at the heart of talks between the Vatican and a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group.
Representations of the Vatican and the Society of St. Pius X began a series of talks Monday aimed at reconciliation.
A Vatican statement said among a number of "main doctrinal differences" between the Society and the Vatican to be discussed in a series of upcoming meetings were "the relationship between Christianity and non-Christian religions, and religious freedom."
In January, Pope Benedict sparked outrage when he lifted the excommunication order against four of the society's bishops, including a Holocaust denier, Richard Williamson, as part of an attempt to return them to the mainstream Catholic fold.
This is the sort of crap that the left wing Guardian feeds the hoi polloi everyday.
The neo-pagan Brits are none the wiser.
“The bishop’s remarks were made public in January, shortly after Pope Benedict XVI repealed an order made by the previous pope excommunicating Williamson for his rightwing views.”
Looks like Ratzy is trying to reestablish the Catholic Nazi Party.
The article is wrong. He and the other SSPX bishops were excommunicated by the previous Pope for being illicitly consecrated as bishops.
Oh you have got to see this...
To: Dr. Eckleburg
“The bishop’s remarks were made public in January, shortly after Pope Benedict XVI repealed an order made by the previous pope excommunicating Williamson for his rightwing views.”
Looks like Ratzy is trying to reestablish the Catholic Nazi Party.
4 posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 10:27:31 AM by the_conscience
Hatred is poison. Repent.
You: Looks like Ratzy is trying to reestablish the Catholic Nazi Party.
See post #3 immediately before yours.
Williamsom's excommunication by JPII had nothing to do with his political views. It was imposed latae sentantiae for his participation in an unsanctioned episcopal consecration. The lifting of this excommunication by the present Pope was likewise unrelated to politics. It was performed as part of the process aimed at reconciling the SSPX.
The Guardian spun the bull and you swallowed it. Completely.
Suckerrrrrrrrr!!!!
That assumes it ever left.
What are we to make of Ratzinger's blindness? His stubborn refusal to excise the anti-semitism that is rampant in the papacy.
From the article...
"The outcry was immediate, with both Jews and members of the Catholic hierarchy criticising the pope's rehabilitation of a Holocaust-denier. While condemning Williamson's remarks, the Vatican defended its decision, only saying later that it hadn't known about his very public views about the Holocaust."
LOLOL. Isn't there someone on the Vatican payroll who can come up with a better excuse than that?
Pathetic.
lol. That makes Ratzinger's actions worse, not better!
It's better to make the argument and leave labels to the imagination of the lurkers.
Wow! That was a week ago!
Nice catch.
Duly noted.
Not only do we have the “epic failure” argument, we have the “epic failure” endorser in post #9.
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