Richard Williamson

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German Court Fines Bishop for Holocaust Denial

Richard Williamson fails to show up

(Newser) - A German court has convicted a British bishop of inciting racial hatred and fined him $13,544 for denying the Holocaust in a 2009 TV interview. Richard Williamson wasn’t in the courtroom, the BBC reports. The court heard a tape of Williamson declaring that only “200,000 to...

Bishop's Holocaust Denial Boosts UK Church's Fame

Richard Williamson a headache for St. Pius Society

(Newser) - The London-based Society of St. Pius X has done its best to hide away Richard Williamson since his infamous pronouncement last year that no Jews were killed in Nazi gas chambers. “We have lost one of our four bishops,” laments the group's leader, Bernard Fellay. “We can't...

Vatican Insiders Call Pope 'a Disaster'

Gaffe-prone and out-of-touch Benedict aggravates Holy See

(Newser) - As Benedict XVI continues his pilgrimage in Africa, sources inside the Vatican say that the pope's frequent gaffes and difficulties with modern communication are threatening to undermine him. One member of the Vatican told the Telegraph that Benedict is "a disaster" who is "out of touch with the...

Pope Admits Fault in Holocaust Bishop Flap

Vatican vows to plug into how news spreads online

(Newser) - Pope Benedict will release a personal letter to bishops tomorrow that explains why he reinstated an excommunicated Holocaust denier and expresses regret for how that news was delivered, the New York Times reports. In leaked passages, the pontiff admits mistakes and promises greater awareness in the future of how news...

Vatican Unsatisfied by Holocaust Bishop Apology

(Newser) - The Vatican today rejected Bishop Richard Williamson’s so-called apology for his Holocaust beliefs, CNN reports, a mea culpa mandated by the Pope. “He must also distance himself in an absolutely unequivocal and public from his stand regarding the [Holocaust],” a spokesman said. Williamson said he regretted the...

Holocaust Bishop Apologizes
 Holocaust Bishop Apologizes 
Feb 26, 2009 3:59 PM CST

Holocaust Bishop Apologizes

(Newser) - A British bishop apologized today for remarks in which he denied the scale of the Holocaust and asserted that no Jews were gassed in concentration camps. "I can truthfully say that I regret having made such remarks," said Bishop Richard Williamson. He did not, however, say that his...

Holocaust- Denying Bish Makes Fightin' Exit

Bishop scuffles with newsman while complying with order to leave Argentina in Airport Face-Off

(Newser) - Holocaust-denying British bishop Richard Williamson made an angry exit from Argentina today, the BBC reports. The bishop brandished a fist at a reporter and briefly scuffled with him as he passed through the airport. Williamson, who was ordered to leave Argentina when officials there learned of his views, arrived in...

Argentina to Holocaust Denier: Get Out

(Newser) - Maybe the Vatican has an extra room. Argentina today ordered the Holocaust-denying Catholic bishop to leave the country in 10 days, the Times of London reports. Bishop Richard Williamson triggered an international outcry when he made his claims about the Holocaust in a TV interview, then got accepted back into...

Pope Calls Holocaust Denial 'Intolerable'

Pontiff tries to smooth over controversy in meeting with Jews

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI told a group of American Jewish leaders today that any denial of the reality of the Holocaust is "intolerable," particularly from a member of the clergy. The pope said he was unaware that Bishop Richard Williamson, whose excommunication he lifted, had denied the full...

Bishop Will 'Look Into' Holocaust Record

Williamson yield after d

(Newser) - Under pressure to recant his Holocaust denial, Bishop Richard Williamson promises to crack open the history books. “Historical evidence is at issue, not emotions," he told Der Spiegel. "And if I find this evidence, I will correct myself. But that will take time." Williamson said his...

Seminary Axes Holocaust Denier

Conservative society sacks bishop reinstated by pope

(Newser) - The Holocaust-denying bishop embroiled in controversy since Pope Benedict lifted his excommunication has been booted from his Argentine seminary, the Independent reports. Richard Williamson's ultra-conservative sect sacked him as seminary director as the Vatican increased pressure on the bishop to recant his controversial statements that Jews were not gassed during...

Pope's German Honeymoon Is Kaput
Pope's German Honeymoon
Is Kaput
OPINION
Feb 5, 2009 2:42 AM CST

Pope's German Honeymoon Is Kaput

Bungling over rebel bishop squandered nation's pride in pontiff

(Newser) - The first German pope in nearly 500 years has lost the confidence of Germans as swiftly as a collapsing mortgage lender, Alexander Smoltcyzk writes in Der Spiegel. The scandal surrounding the reinstatement of Holocaust denying Bishop Richard Williamson has done lasting damage to the pope's authority and reputation, replacing the...

Pope's Bro to Merkel: Chill Out
Pope's Bro to Merkel: Chill Out
Feb 4, 2009 1:13 PM CST

Pope's Bro to Merkel: Chill Out

Ratzinger says German leader's call for pontiff to clarify Holocaust stance is 'irrational'

(Newser) - The pope’s brother today criticized Angela Merkel for demanding that Benedict XVI restate his views on the Holocaust amid the controversy over a reinstated priest, the Times of London reports. “I always saw her as a rational woman,” Georg Ratzinger—himself a Catholic priest—said of the...

Vatican Demands Holocaust Denier Recant

(Newser) - The Vatican has demanded that Bishop Richard Williamson, a Holocaust denier who was recently un-excommunicated, recant his views in order to serve in the Catholic Church, the BBC reports. Williamson was excommunicated 20 years ago for a separate transgression. The Church said the pope was unaware of his contrarian stance...

Cardinals Blast Pope on Holocaust Denier

Decision to re-instate bishop a 'disaster' says Germany's top cardinal

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XIV's reinstatement of a Holocaust-denying bishop has received some unusually harsh criticism from within the church, the Guardian reports. Germany's top-ranking cardinal has labeled the decision "a disaster" and called for the Pope to apologize. Cardinal Walter Kasper, who oversees the Vatican's relations with Judaism, says the...

Israeli Rabbis Cut Off Vatican Over Holocaust Dispute

Pope attempts to smooth ties with conciliatory remarks

(Newser) - Israel’s senior rabbinical body has severed ties with the Vatican, saying Bishop Richard Williamson should recant his statements denying that millions of Jews were "deliberately gassed" during the Holocaust. The chief rabbinate expressed “sorrow and pain” at the decision, which follows worldwide outrage among Jews and progressive...

Jews Rip Pope for Reinstating Holocaust Denier

Pope's reinstatement of controversial leader threatens Jewish-Catholic relations

(Newser) - Jews across the globe are reacting with fury to Pope Benedict XVI's reinstatement of an excommunicated bishop who denies the Holocaust, the Guardian reports. Former British bishop Richard Williamson, excommunicated in 1988 for his membership in an extremist Catholic sect and defiance of church authority, claims that no Jews died...

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