Bishop Apologizes to Pope but Does Not Retract Holocaust Denial
VATICAN CITY, Jan. 30 — A Holocaust-denying bishop who was readmitted to the Catholic Church apologized Friday to Pope Benedict XVI for the “unnecessary distress and problems” caused by his “imprudent remarks.”
Bishop Richard Williamson, one of four leaders of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X whose 1988 excommunications were lifted by the pope Jan. 21, posted the statement on his personal blog.
Jewish groups have voiced outrage that Williamson recently told Swedish television that “historical evidence is hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler.” On Thursday, Israel’s chief rabbinate, the country’s highest Jewish body, severed ties with the Vatican.
In an apparent response to the controversy, Benedict on Wednesday condemned the Nazi genocide of “millions of Jews” and expressed his “full and indisputable solidarity” with the Jewish people.
The pope has not, however, explicitly condemned Williamson’s remarks.