St. Pius X Society leader says Bishop Williamson should ‘stay quiet’

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Comments: 19

Bishop Bernard Fellay

Berlin, Germany, Mar 3, 2009 / 01:35 am (CNA).- Society of St. Pius X head Bishop Bernard Fellay has said Bishop Richard Williamson’s apology for his Holocaust remarks is an “important step” but added that Bishop Williamson should probably stay quiet and stay “in a corner somewhere” or face being kicked out of the Society.

In a 2008 interview with a Swedish television crew, Bishop Williamson had said no more than 300,000 Jews died in the Holocaust and denied that there were gas chambers at the concentration camps.

His remarks prompted media uproar in January after Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications on the four bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a breakaway traditionalist group.

Last Thursday, Bishop Williamson issued a statement expressing regret for making the remarks and apologizing for the reaction and “scandal” they had caused.

However, he did not explicitly retract his opinions.

Speaking to the German weekly Der Spiegel, Bishop Fellay said the apology was honest.

"It is a first request for forgiveness and an important step in the right direction,” he said. Adding that Bishop Williamson had damaged the SSPX, Bishop Fellay distanced himself from the bishop.

If Bishop Williamson denies the Holocaust again, Bishop Fellay warned, he will be excluded from the SSPX.

“It is probably better if he stays quiet and stays in a corner somewhere,” Bishop Fellay said, according to Reuters. He said he believed it unlikely that the Vatican would excommunicate Bishop Williamson a second time.

On Friday, Vatican spokesman Fr. Frederico Lombardi said Bishop Williamson’s statement fell short of demands that he must “distance himself in an absolute, unequivocal and public manner from his positions regarding the Shoah.”

Comments: 19

Subscriber comments:

Published by: deborah a. smith
brownfield,maine 06/21/2009 04:46 AM EST

support only our saviour,jesus christ and his holy bible. and his blessed mother mary. with his traditional ways of the catholic church his fathers will in heaven. and the saints and martyrs and the most holy rosary. do not support the modern ways of the cathlic church and the bad cardinals,bishops and priests which will lead you to a loss of your soul and to hell. it is our church and not theirs and if they do not do this fire all of them and let us all take back our church. in the memory of jesus christ. only support ways in the st. joseph missal before 1962. the ways of the council of trent.

Published by: Noel Corbett
louisville ky usa 06/18/2009 10:37 AM EST

Pope pius X had a catechism book for the lower classes. dated april 4, 1906. i found one. in descent condition. how can i get info. on it.

Published by: hollingsworth
Spokane, WA U.S 03/09/2009 01:14 PM EST

...Fr. Frederico Lombardi said Bishop Williamson’s statement fell short of demands that he must “distance himself in an absolute, unequivocal and public manner.."
Speaking of 'falling short.' Most of the bishops in most of the Catholic dioceses throughout the world have fallen short in implementing the Motu Proprio reinstating the Old Mass. Have Fr. Lombardi and other members of the Vatican hierarchy, including the Pope, ever chided or scolded them for so egregiously falling short of implementing this Papal decree? Let them get as good as they give. I say, just ignore them!

Published by: j beck
USA 03/08/2009 11:26 AM EST

Bishop Williamson has a habit of inserting foot in mouth. Don't believe me? Find out what his views are concerning girls and young women who are pursuing higher education. Examples : "Ideas are not for women"....and "...women have no place in universities." Bishop Fellay is right. I don't have a problem with Bishop Williamson stating an opinion...but it is just that... an opinion. Unless he is commenting on Faith and Morals...then he should keep his opinions to himself...this would serve us Traditionals so much better in the long run.

Published by: Frank C.
USA 03/07/2009 10:09 AM EST

The question as to what really happened as far as the holocaust is concerned is a legitimate question and there should be free, fair, and open debate on this subject, just as there should be with respect to all questions of truth. The German, Austrian, French and EU laws which forbid people from questioning the official holocaust narrative are completely incompatible with genuine democracy. They are manifestations of a totalitarian way of thinking where the state or the government determines what people are to affirm as true. Many individuals have been sent to prison in these countries for having the temerity to deny or even doubt the official story. Now it is not my intention in this post to probe the official story any further, but I will remark in passing that truth does not fear investigation and the existence of "holocaust-denier" laws does not speak well for the veracity of the official version of events. As a matter of fact, such 'thought-crime' laws are strangely reminiscent of the behaviour of the Nazis who burned books and imprisoned their political adversaries.

Published by: Roberto Alvarez-Perez
Miami, FL, USA 03/06/2009 12:57 PM EST

Bishop Williamson's statement on the Jewish holocaust is his personal and educated opinion. It is not a sin or cause for repudiation. What happened to the Jews and other victims of the Third Reich is not Church dogma.
What really infuriates me is that the Church has paid more attention to Bishop Wiliamson's statement than to the abuses against Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother by a program on Israel chanel 10. The divinity of Jesus Christ and the sanctity of the Virgin Mary are dogmas of the Church, yet Rome and Bishop Fellay are more concerned about Bishop Williamson's comments.
The Church has apparently decided to march to the beat of the Jews and the latter will always find an excuse to attack, whether it is Pius XII turning his back to the persecuted Jews or Bishop Williamson's statement.
Let us pray for Bishop Richard Williamson who is not only persecuted by the enemies of the Church but by the same Church that he has so much defended.

Published by: Michael
Australia 03/05/2009 05:20 PM EST

I think another million rosaries are in order to bring sanity back to the world, and support the work of all the bishops and religeous of the SSPX. The devil is working very hard to divide and conquer. Are we going to let him ?

Published by: sam
Boston, MA, USA 03/05/2009 01:50 PM EST

History will prove Bp. Williamson's views of the Holocaust to be closer to the truth than not. Read an account of the machinations behind the scenes at Vatican II regarding the document, Nostra Aetate: "How the Jews Changed Catholic Thinking" (Jan. 25, 1966 issue of LOOK magazine)

Published by: Anton
New Zealand 03/04/2009 04:39 PM EST

As a member of the SSPX, I am very sad to see Bishop Fellay's stance. Bishop Williamson should be given his full support. The Pope, the Vatican, and the SSPX must all be encouraged to stand firm. We can not let the Jewish lobby dictate the way the Holy Mother Church is run.

Published by: Jason
los angeles/ ca/ usa 03/04/2009 04:05 PM EST

The thing is in the past the more publicity SSPX gets good or bad it seems to bring more people to them.

Published by: neil
fairfield, CT, USA 03/04/2009 10:25 AM EST

Good luck, Bishop Wiliamson, in your lonely war against the international jewish conspiracy! The point is, that regardless of the historical truth of the Holocaust, International Jewry for the past 2000 years has relentlessly promoted the erosion of the nation-state and of separate national identities and sovereignty, and has been largley responsible for introducing the terrible modern evils of "democracy" and "human rights" and "multiculturalism".......Oh, and the Jews are collectively responsible for killing Christ! Long live true Catholicism and nationalism and death to globalism, democracy and the New World Order!

Published by: Sam
Boston, MA, USA 03/04/2009 08:53 AM EST

History will prove that Bp. Williamson's views are closer to the truth than not. "How the Jews Changed Catholic Thinking" (LOOK magazine, Jan. 25, 1966)describes the machinations behind the scenes at Vatican II regarding the document Nostra Aetate. Here's a question for the Holocaust supporters: why weren't the Warburgs and the Rothschilds rounded up along with all the other Jews? Makes ya wanna go, "Hmmm . . ."

Published by: Charles Dinapoli
Rochester NY, USA 03/04/2009 05:06 AM EST

Bishop Williamson seems very much a person of high integrity to me. This Fellay fellow does not. Whether someone beleives or does not beleive in a 6 Million Holocaust should NOT be dogma of the Catholic Church. How absurd to treat a grown man as a child who must sit in the corner. I saw Williamson's interview and he didn't DENY that jews died, just the number and method. So does the Red Cross and many jewish scholars and scientists. Do we excommunicate the Red Cross now, too???

Published by: Alex
Chicago, ILL. America 03/04/2009 04:40 AM EST

Bishop Williamson has been thrown under the bus and it is quite shameful. Since when did the only unquestionable event in the course of human history become the Jewish holocaust? It is quite ironic that this event gets so much media coverage when within the last sixty odd days Israel has killed and maimed countless innocents in Gaza. I guess it helps deflect things a bit from where they really should be focused. When will we as Roman Catholics start to see the excellent job of "perception management" thrust upon us by a few very powerful lobbyist groups?

Published by: Lionel Andrades
Rome,Lazio,Italy 03/04/2009 03:47 AM EST

When the Rabbinate in Israel broke ties Il Messagero reported there was a threat of war.
Bishop Richard Williamson said that he was not an anti-Semite.(Catholic Herald,U.K)and not a hater of all Jews. He once even invited a Rabbi to speak at his seminary. However he was opposed to those Jews who were enemies of Jesus and the Church.He opposed their attempts at world domination.

I think that to believe that 5,999,999 or 5,999,998 Jews were killed or not killed, according to Catholic moral theology does not indicate that one hates Jews. To believe in the Holocaust and gas chambers is not a doctrine of the Catholic faith.

I would accept the six million figure because the Holy Father says so. Intellectually I know it is a faith-figure.
There can be those who hate, which is a mortal sin for us, however we cannot judge Bishop Richard Williamson as hating Jews. Not according to Catholic moral teaching.

To say that to deny the Holocaust is an expression of hatred for the Jews and is contrary to the teachings of God and the Church is applicable for those in this category.Those who do hate in this manner. However to say that Bishop Richard Williamson is in this category is a judgment and condemnation which is contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the Catholic Church.
If a Catholic priest takes the same position as Bishop Richard Williamson, Canon Law would have to be applied.
The Bible(New Testament),is considered hate(US State Deptt.Anti-Semitism Office.

Published by: Greg Groebner
Clements/MN/USA 03/04/2009 12:03 AM EST

Jewish population
World 1900 - 11,206,849 Europe 1900 - 8,966,781
World 1939 - 12,430,945 Europe 1939 - 9,946,200
World 1978 - 13,461,987
World 2005 - 14,596,017 Europe 2005 - 1,558,500

Oh wise ones, please tell me, where do you see a 6 million "holocaust"?

Demographically, there was NO "HOLOCAUST", only migration.
Until someone irrefutably accounts for these fundamental demographics, you are a fool if you are NOT a "holocaust-denier".

Is it a crime to do math? Or to question the works of various historians?

The answers to these questions are very obvious, but we can't say them aloud.

--------------
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jewish_population_comparisons
1900 figures taken from Jewish Encyclopedia 1901-1906
1939 figures taken from “Estimated Jewish Population of Europe” http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/angap03.asp
- Europe figure 9,946,200 taken from web page above
- World figure calculated at the same 80.01161611% that European Jews were compared to the world in 1900; thus 9,946,200 / 80.01161611% = 12,430,945
1978 figure calculated backward from the 2005 figure using the population growth rate of 0.3%
“Jewish population growth worldwide is close to zero percent. From 2000 to 2001 it rose 0.3%,” - http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/world-jewish-population.htm
“2005” Europe figure actually from 2002 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population
Thus, from 1900 to 1939, the Jewish population grew 10.9227491%

Published by: pete
Sunnyvale, CA USA 03/03/2009 01:16 PM EST

If memory serves, it was this bishop, then a priest, who convinced Lefebvre to distrust the original aggreement reached under JPII that led directly to the ordination of the 4 and subsequent excommunications.
Wacko.

Published by: John
Chicago, ILL. USA 03/03/2009 01:11 PM EST

Everybody is taking their shot at Bishop Williamson. How quickly the wolf pack instinct takes over some people and they all attack. They not only criticize Bishop Williamson, but they do it in a very insulting manner as did this Bishop Fellay suggesting that Bishop Williamson "stay in a corner somewhere". Sometimes the critics are lower than the one criticized.

Published by: Mr.J.Harmsen
U.K. 03/03/2009 11:42 AM EST

Rate: Excellent

The Holocaust is NOT part of the dogma of the Church.A person who questions the extent of the Holocaust is not a heretic.A person who does this is not even in sin.Hate is sinful.Racism is a sin.However,having a particular point of view of history is not a sin.Therefore,Bishop Williamson needs our prayers.

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