A Vatican Problem

Posted on 18. Sep, 2009 by admin in Spring 2009

Recently Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications of four schismatic bishops of Archbishop Lefebvre’s Traditionalist Society of St. Pius X who were ordained in 1988 without the Pope’s permission. This group has about 600,000 members and rejects modernizations of Roman Catholic Liturgical services and doctrines.

The problem exists with one of the bishops, the British born Richard Williamson who said at a Swedish television broadcast, “I believe there were no gas chambers and only up to 300,000 Jews
perished in Nazi concentration camps instead of 6 million.”

Immediately there was an outcry of some members of the Jewish community. Many say the Pope’s action towards Bishop Williamson has greatly setback Catholic-Jewish Relations for the future.

Prominent Jewish critics like Rabbi David Rosen, Elan Steinberg, and Abe Foxman say the Pope’s document has serious implications on future Catholic-Jewish Relations.

Prominent Catholic critics also criticized the Pope’s actions. Men like Cardinal Andre Vint-Trois of Paris, Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles, and Cardinal Schonborn of Vienna spoke out.

Interestingly, Jewish and Catholic critics have basically accepted the Pope’s recent letter explaining why he revoked the excommunication of Bishop Williamson. The Pope admitted there
were mistakes in how the Vatican handled the case. The Pope Today has refused to accept the Bishop’s apology as “falling short of satisfying the spirit of the Second Vatican Council’s statements on Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.”

Tags: Pope, Vatican