Berlin, Germany, Jul 13, 2011 / 15:54 pm
A German appeals court has levied a fine of nearly $9,000 against Bishop Richard Williamson of the Society of St. Pius X for public statements denying the gravity of the Holocaust.
During an interview in 2008, Williamson said, “Historical evidence massively contradicts the theory that 6 million Jews died” in the Nazi concentration camps. He was subsequently fined $14,000 by a German court, but the July 11 order reduced it to just over $9,000.
The interview was re-broadcast in January of 2009, just as Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication against four Lefebvrist bishops, including Williamson. Analysts saw it as an obvious attempt to smear the Pope for his decision to lift the canonical penalty imposed on the bishops.
The other three bishops include the current leader of the Society of St. Pius X Bernard Fellay, Tissier de Mallerais and Alfonso de Galarreta.