Stunning: Text of Bishop Williamson's Apology

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A few items for some clarification:
  1. Williamson bases his thought of no gas chambers based on the work of a designer of gas chambers in the U.S. who claims (quite correctly) that the remains of the Auschwitz gas chambers could not have been used as claimed. I say quite correctly because it is true. None of the Auschwitz chambers could have been used for U.S. gas chambers. What Bishop Williamson fails to take into account is that U.S. chambers use Potassium Cyanide to kill criminals. It is much more powerful and kills much more quickly as to try to avoid being “cruel and unusual punishment”. It also takes longer to be neutralized and using it in such great quantities would have made the chambers unapproachable for days. The Nazis had no such qualms. They were interested in quantity instead of quality. Therefore they used Zyklon B a Hydrogen Cyanide gas producer. The Hydrogen Cyanide kills a bit slower and more painfully but it does, being hydrogen based, become non virulent fairly quickly allowing for a faster removal of bodies to the crematoria.
  2. Bishop Williamson also argues that only 200-300,000 Jews were killed. This defies logic as the numbers of the dead simply from Nazi records are far greater than this. If he wanted to argue that 6,000,000 was wrong and that the true number was “only” 5,800,000 this would be different, but to have the difference be 5.8 million is credulous at best and either anti-semitic or pro-nazi at worst.
FWIW, I think that Bishop Williamson needs to take a strong look at the facts as purported by both Jewish and Nazi sources and then explain his reasoning for such a scandalous statement.
 
ByzCath said:
He does not recant his remarks, he does not say they were wrong or that he was mistaken, just that he is sorry he said them.

Best thing would have been never to have said them.

I am still trying to figure out why any bishop would make such statements as they really have nothing to do with the faith.
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Why should he recant them? It isn’t a point of Catholic doctrine to believe that 6 million Jews perished in gas chambers.

And you are correct, it has nothing to do with the faith, so the good bishop should not have commented on it. If you look at the interview though, Bishop Williamson was asked about it by the reporter first.
 
MrDickerson said:
Why should he recant them? It isn’t a point of Catholic doctrine to believe that 6 million Jews perished in gas chambers.

And you are correct, it has nothing to do with the faith, so the good bishop should not have commented on it. If you look at the interview though, Bishop Williamson was asked about it by the reporter first.
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No it’s not a matter of faith or doctrine, but Williamson should still recant it. The remark was distasteful to say the very least. We won’t even look at christian charity. Nor at intelligence. But even if he did recant it, it’s too late: the damage is done.

That the earth is round isn’t a matter of faith either, but if Williamson had said “the earth is flat” he would have been laughed off the stage. Which is what should have happened here, except of course, that there are far too many “ultras” who continue to espouse their twisted revisionist history. And the media (in whatever country) will always jump at the chance to get a juicy story like that.

Whether Williamson was asked by a reporter or not, he should have had the sense God gave to a goose and deferred the question. In other words, he should have kept his big mouth shut in the first place. Actually, he should never have granted an interview, period. I don’t care if he’s a “bishop:” he is not 9and never was) a territorial bishop, and (thank God) not the Superior of the congregation.
 
MrDickerson said:
Why should he recant them? It isn’t a point of Catholic doctrine to believe that 6 million Jews perished in gas chambers.
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No it is not Catholic doctrine, it is a matter of history and fact though.
And you are correct, it has nothing to do with the faith, so the good bishop should not have commented on it. If you look at the interview though, Bishop Williamson was asked about it by the reporter first.
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Yes, in the interview I linked the reporter asked the bishop but he was asking the bishop about a comment he made in Canada.
 
Dauphin said:
I’m stunned. The work of God’s Grace in this whole affair is becoming undeniable. I never thought I’d see such words from His Excellency:

"To His Eminence Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos

Your Eminence

Amidst this tremendous media storm stirred up by imprudent remarks of mine on Swedish television, I beg of you to accept, only as is properly respectful, my sincere regrets for having caused to yourself and to the Holy Father so much unnecessary distress and problems.

For me, all that matters is the Truth Incarnate, and the interests of His one true Church, through which alone we can save our souls and give eternal glory, in our little way, to Almighty God. So I have only one comment, from the prophet Jonas, I, 12 -

“Take me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”

Please also accept, and convey to the Holy Father, my sincere personal thanks for the document signed last Wednesday and made public on Saturday. Most humbly I will offer a Mass for both of you.

Sincerely yours in Christ

+Richard Williamson"

http://dinoscopus.blogspot.com/2009/01/letter.html
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What a beautiful repentence, fully of humility.

Although for some this will never be enough. Luckily it is only God Who judges our hearts.

(the numbers of those killed during the WWII era, I was taught in school 8 million Jews in Europe and at least 20 million Orthodox Christians in Russia, plus the hundreds of thousands of our soldiers in Europe and the Pacific and those of other nations, the exact numbers or method of death of those precious souls are not a matter of our Catholic Faith and have not been official defined as it is not a matter of Faith and anyone’s opinion however outlandish should not be used to judge someone on a matter of the Catholic Faith.

From what I understand, which could be a misunderstanding, the number be it 6 million as is said now or 8 million as I was taught in school of specifically Jews during that time was only determined from the written confession of 1 man before he killed himself which may or may not be reliable which is why there has been some doubt since there was not physical evidence to confirm or deny that number left in that 1 man’s suicide note. What we do know, is the number of Christians killed in Russia far exceeded the Jews in Europe yet both numbers are a shameful horror! God, Who knows the number of hairs on our head, is the only one who knows the exact number of his children, regardless of nationality or religion, who died then. May God bless each and every person killed during that era and bring them to salvation and may that volume of killing never be repeated!)
 
pnewton said:
Which is why he didn’t. While people, especially Jews are angry at him for his denial of the Holocaust, at least in the normal use of the word, they miss the far more serious log in their own eye: that is, the leap in logic that denying the Holocaust most stem from anti-Semetism. This holocaust issue is hardly his only quirk when it comes to such matters. Being gullible to conspiracy theories and just plain wrong about history does not equate to hating Jews (or theological error).
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I’m not disagreeing with you but let’s say he does recant and say, after careful reflection, that indeed six million Jews were gassed to death, wouldn’t we question his motives about that as well?

I trust that God will be more forgiving then we, if indeed the Bishop has apologized for provoking major controversy.
 
Bishop Williamson’s anti-semitism needs to be condemned loudly by all faithful traditional Catholics.

Still, I am glad the excommunications have been lifted.

Denying the Holocaust is a terrible lie. If it is done with full knowledge then it is a terrible sin. But it isn’t a heresy.

I think that lifting the excommunications and talking the SSPX will do more to combat anti-semitism than leaving the SSPX outside the Church. (contrary to the criticisms of our Jewish brothers and sisters) Already we see even the loud, bombastic, and frequently crazy Williamson moderating his tone.

That is astonishing.
 
The only way to save this thread was to delete a whole slew of posts. Start again from this point on, and keep the comments on-topic and charitable. I must also remind you all that public posts about mod actions violate CAF rules, so please do not use this as an opportunity to debate the removal of the posts. Thank you.
 
cathguy said:
Bishop Williamson’s anti-semitism needs to be condemned loudly by all faithful traditional Catholics.

Still, I am glad the excommunications have been lifted.

Denying the Holocaust is a terrible lie. If it is done with full knowledge then it is a terrible sin. But it isn’t a heresy.

I think that lifting the excommunications and talking the SSPX will do more to combat anti-semitism than leaving the SSPX outside the Church. (contrary to the criticisms of our Jewish brothers and sisters) Already we see even the loud, bombastic, and frequently crazy Williamson moderating his tone.

That is astonishing.
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To call a Bishop of the Catholic Church an anti-semite is insulting to the Episcopacy.

To call someone who questions the ways, means and number of victims by allusion an anti-semite is probably not the best use of deductive reasoning.

I believe that many of us disagree strongly with Bishop’s statements in regards to the Holocaust. I am positive that many of us regret the situation in which his remarks placed the Pope and the Church. As does the Bishop, whose apology in the OP makes clear.
 
maurin said:
To call a Bishop of the Catholic Church an anti-semite is insulting to the Episcopacy.

To call someone who questions the ways, means and number of victims by allusion an anti-semite is probably not the best use of deductive reasoning.

I believe that many of us disagree strongly with Bishop’s statements in regards to the Holocaust. I am positive that many of us regret the situation in which his remarks placed the Pope and the Church. As does the Bishop, whose apology in the OP makes clear.
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This is the kind of rhetoric that is not to occur in this thread. Discuss the matter of Bp. Williamson’s apology. Do NOT discuss or label each other or other people’s opinions. If you disagree, say so, but there is no need to claim that someone else is “insulting” the entire episcopacy by questioning the actions of one bishop.

I’d prefer to leave this thread open, but will close it if moderator direction continues to be ignored.
 
Since no one has the ability to look into the Bishop’s heart --it is truly unjust and uncharitable to accuse him of anti-semitism and of questioning the sincerity of his apology.
 
maurin said:
To call a Bishop of the Catholic Church an anti-semite is insulting to the Episcopacy.

To call someone who questions the ways, means and number of victims by allusion an anti-semite is probably not the best use of deductive reasoning.

I believe that many of us disagree strongly with Bishop’s statements in regards to the Holocaust. I am positive that many of us regret the situation in which his remarks placed the Pope and the Church. As does the Bishop, whose apology in the OP makes clear.
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Jo_Benedict said:
This is the kind of rhetoric that is not to occur in this thread. Discuss the matter of Bp. Williamson’s apology. Do NOT discuss or label each other or other people’s opinions. If you disagree, say so, but there is no need to claim that someone else is “insulting” the entire episcopacy by questioning the actions of one bishop.

I’d prefer to leave this thread open, but will close it if moderator direction continues to be ignored.
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mea culpa… allow me to amend and edit the above post of mine.

I believe that many of us disagree strongly with the Bishop’s statements in regards to the Holocaust. I am positive that many of us regret the situation in which his comments placed the Pope and the Church. As does the Bishop, whose apology in the OP makes clear.

But to call him an anti-semite, or by allusion a Holocaust denier, seems to me to be unreasonable, and not supported by what he actually said.
 
maurin said:
mea culpa… allow me to amend and edit the above post of mine.

I believe that many of us disagree strongly with the Bishop’s statements in regards to the Holocaust. I am positive that many of us regret the situation in which his comments placed the Pope and the Church. As does the Bishop, whose apology in the OP makes clear.

But to call him an anti-semite, or by allusion a Holocaust denier, seems to me to be unreasonable, and not supported by what he actually said.
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Thank you, maurin. 🙂
 
maurin said:
mea culpa… allow me to amend and edit the above post of mine.

I believe that many of us disagree strongly with the Bishop’s statements in regards to the Holocaust. I am positive that many of us regret the situation in which his comments placed the Pope and the Church. As does the Bishop, whose apology in the OP makes clear.

But to call him an anti-semite, or by allusion a Holocaust denier, seems to me to be unreasonable, and not supported by what he actually said.
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I disagree with every bone in my traditionalist Catholic body.

It is deeply disturbing to see a Bishop arguing that only 100,000 or so Jews died in the Shoah. That is Holocaust denial. Holocaust denial is a GRAVE matter according the Vatican (that is what the official press release of the Vatican said).

Furthermore, the Vatican spokesman only acknowledged that Williamson made the “apology,” and gruffly said that anyone can judge it any way they want. Those are Lombardi’s own words. It is easy to point out that Williamson never actually apologized for what he said, only for the discomfort he caused the Pope.

Bishop Williamson is widely praised on neo-Nazi websites.

His supporters do not use logic and reason, but simply spew hate and ad hominem attacks.

Those who of us who could not sleep at night if we remained silent need to speak up forcefully, even in the face of severe recrimination.
 
cathguy said:
I disagree with every bone in my traditionalist Catholic body.

It is deeply disturbing to see a Bishop arguing that only 100,000 or so Jews died in the Shoah. That is Holocaust denial. Holocaust denial is a GRAVE matter according the Vatican (that is what the official press release of the Vatican said).

Furthermore, the Vatican spokesman only acknowledged that Williamson made the “apology,” and gruffly said that anyone can judge it any way they want. Those are Lombardi’s own words. It is easy to point out that Williamson never actually apologized for what he said, only for the discomfort he caused the Pope.

Bishop Williamson is widely praised on neo-Nazi websites.

His supporters do not use logic and reason, but simply spew hate and ad hominem attacks.

Those who of us who could not sleep at night if we remained silent need to speak up forcefully, even in the face of severe recrimination.
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It is find that you disagree with every bone in your body–but all those bones put together still do not give you the ability to know the Bishop’s heart–and therefore make such accusations.
 
Walking_Home said:
It is find that you disagree with every bone in your body–but all those bones put together still do not give you the ability to know the Bishop’s heart–and therefore make such accusations.
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FACT:

Bishop Williamson denied that millions of Jews were massacred in the holocaust when they in fact were.

FACT:

Bishop Williamson thinks the Jews are out to destroy the Church and has written so on his own website.

FACT:

Bishop Williamson praises a book “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” which is not only a proven forgery, but also essential reading in the Neo-Nazi movement.

FACT:

Bishop Williamson is widely praised on neo-Nazi websites.

FACT:

Bishop Williamson has caused grave scandal to the Pope and to the Church as a result of his actions, and was forced to “apologize.”

FACT:

Bishop Williamson, despite the scandal caused, has only apologized for causing the Pope difficulty.

FACT:

Bishop Williamson has not recanted his denial of the purposeful murder of million’s of Jews by the Nazis.

FACT:

Bishop Williamson has not recanted his promotion of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

FACT:

Bishop Williamson is still widely praised by Neo-Nazis and viewed by them as an ally.

Gentle reader… draw your own conclusions.

The Vatican pretty clearly, given how forcefully they have been condemning Williamson’s errors this past week, has drawn the same conclusions I have.
 
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