London, England, Feb 26, 2009 / 13:02 pm
Society of St. Pius X Bishop Richard Williamson has expressed regret to the Church and to Holocaust victims and their relatives for the harm caused by his remarks on Swedish television minimizing Jewish suffering in the Holocaust. He also apologized to those who took "honest scandal" from his comments.
Though describing his opinion as that of a "non-historian," he did not explicitly retract it.
"I can truthfully say that I regret having made such remarks, and that if I had known beforehand the full harm and hurt to which they would give rise, especially to the Church, but also to survivors and relatives of victims of injustice under the Third Reich, I would not have made them," he said in a Thursday statement issued from London.
He said recent events and the advice of "senior members" of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) persuaded him of his responsibility for "much distress caused."