We all know that there were gas chambers and a halocaust. And your accusations notwithstanding, Bishop Williamson knows this too. It’s all about what the role was of those “gas chambers” and the number who were actually gassed to death that is in dispute not only by Bishop Williamson but a whole bunch of other historians. Bishop Fellay’s letter, at least to me, tries to distinguish between Bishop Williamson’s role as a historian vs that of his role as a legitimate bishop. How long are you going to continue to deny this?
I will continue to deny it with every last breath until someone responds to my worries, which I articulated in another post…and which I duplicate below. Williamson’s Holocaust denial is not some petty quibbling over a minor historical moment; it carries
grave implications. As I wrote the last time:
The thing is, we are not talking about some vague, murky historical side-note or unsolved mystery, here. The gruesome extent of the Holocaust is one of the most studied and best documented historical calamities of all time. If this individual has such a skeptical position on it, one absolutely has to question why. Does he have virulently anti-Semitic motives? I wouldn’t doubt it for a second, as that seems to be the common bond of most Holocaust deniers. Or perhaps he is simply crazy, or an idiot…? I think you’d almost have to be to say some of the things he’s said.
But anyway, I can think of absolutely no good excuse for his views, which in my opinion make him gravely unfit to be a pastor of the Church.
I also disagree with the implication of Fellay and some others that “history” is a kind of academic curiosity best left to specialists – that as long as the man is fit dogmatically, he’s entitled to his own personal opinions about what happened in the past, and we can take them with a grain of salt. But we should never take history with a grain of salt. If we are expected to know enough about history to accept that Jesus Christ, who was killed 2000 years ago with barely any historical documentation to attest to it, is risen from the dead, I think we can be expected to understand something about the 6 million murders that occurred barely 60 years ago.
History is the story of reality unfolding over time; there is truth to be found there. Bishops are not just called upon to understand academic theology – they are called upon to understand the truth. Why? Well, understanding the implications of this historical event is important for pastoral reasons, of course (we have an especially urgent moral responsibility to appreciate our closeness to the Jewish people), but also – it is the truth which sets us free. To take just one practical example, it was deniers like Williamson who didn’t believe such a thing could be happening that allowed the Holocaust to be perpetuated in so many Catholic and Christian countries during the 30s and 40s.
In the end, I trust Pope Benedict’s decision, but I certainly hope that he will have something to say about this one particular “bishop” and his either poisonous or woefully misguided statements.
Peace,
+AMDG+
