Holocaust denier removed as head of Argentine seminary
CNN) — A Holocaust denier Pope Benedict XVI welcomed back into the Roman Catholic Church last month has been removed from his position as head of a seminary in Argentina.
Bishop Richard Williamson, shown in a recent Swedish interview, says he’ll recant “if I find this proof.”
The views of Bishop Richard Williamson, who has led the seminary in La Reja since 2003, do not reflect those of The Society of St. Pius X, said Christian Bouchacourt, head of its Latin American chapter.
“It’s obvious that a Catholic bishop cannot talk with the ecclesiastical authority, but to things related to faith and morality,” Bouchacourt said in a written statement.
Williamson, shortly before the pope lifted his excommunication, denied the Nazis had systematically murdered 6 million Jews during World War II.
In his blog Saturday, Williamson, referring to himself, posted a note, saying, “His Excellency is neither dead, dying, nor retired.”
Earlier Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel phoned Pope Benedict about the issue, though neither side seemed to have shifted its position over Williamson.
“It was a very constructive conversation,” the German government and the Vatican said in a joint statement about the call. Merkel and the pope expressed respect for each other’s opinion, the release said — diplomatic-speak for saying neither side budged.
Merkel demanded Tuesday that the pope firmly reject Holocaust denial.
“The pope and the Vatican must make absolutely clear that there can be no denial of the Holocaust,” Merkel said.
The Vatican has pointed to several statements by Pope Benedict in the past few years condemning the destruction of European Jewry, including his visits to concentration camps. He has also said he did not know of Williamson’s views on the Holocaust when he lifted the excommunication.
“I believe that the historical evidence is strongly against — is hugely against — 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler,” Williamson said recently in an interview with a Swedish television station, which also appeared on various Web sites after its broadcast. “I believe there were no gas chambers.”
Germany’s Catholic bishops Saturday called for the expulsion of Williamson, a member of an ultra-conservative group expelled from the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
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Holocaust denier removed as head of Argentine seminary – CNN.com.
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