The outrage over the decision by Pope
Benedict XVI to readmit to the church a traditionalist bishop, known for his
denial of the Holocaust, is showing no signs of abating in the pontiff's native
Germany, dpa reported.
The pope's decision to pardon four ultra-conservative bishops, who run the
Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), was intended as an act of reconciliation
within the Catholic church.
But the timing could hardly have been worse.
Bishop Williamson, one of the four to be reinstated, said two weeks ago on
Swedish television, "historical evidence is hugely against six million
Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of
Adolf Hitler."
That Benedict went ahead and publicized the bishops' pardon, just three days
before Holocaust Memorial Day, is seen as an oversight at best, and at worst a
lack of concern for the repercussions.
Benedict defused some of the anger when he publicly expressed
"solidarity" for the Jewish people during his general audience last
Wednesday.
The pontiff recalled his pilgrimages to Auschwitz and said the former Nazi
death camp represented a "warning against oblivion, (Holocaust) denial and
reductionism."
Rome's Chief Rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, said the pontiff's words were
"necessary and welcome and contribute to clear many
misunderstandings."
Also apparently satisfied was Israel's ambassador to the Holy See, Mordechai
Lewy. On Friday Lewy attended the presentation at the Vatican of a volume of ancient Hebrew manuscripts.
However, in the pope's native Germany, where sensitivities about the Holocaust
are understandably high, this was too little, too late.
The president of Germany's Jewish Central Committee, Charlotte Knobloch, said
in light of the pope's nationality, she would have "hoped for more
sensitivity in dealing with the crimes of the National Socialists."
Theologians are further asking what kind of Catholicism the pope espouses if he
is willing to jeopardize relations with liberal church members and other
religious faiths in order to court an ultra- traditionalist breakaway group.
Hamburg's Archbishop Werner Thissen was reported Monday saying the fact that
the pope's attempt to heal an internal rift within the church coincided with
Williamson's unspeakable statements, was "dreadful".
German Bishop Gebhard Fuerst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart publicly distanced himself
Saturday from the pope's decision. The German headquarters of the SSPX
congregation is located in a town in his diocese.
Fuerst said it had caused "alienation from the church on the part of many
believers, a loss of trust in the church ... and a considerable breakdown in
the Judaeo-Christian dialogue."
The bishop of the pope's native Regensburg has declared Williamson persona non
grata, and theologians in Muenster and Tuebingen have expressed their dismay.
Seasoned Vatican watchers have been left wondering over what most agree is a
public relations blunder by the Vatican.
"The benign explanation is that there exists a difficulty in correctly
communicating Vatican decisions," said author Massimo Franco who has
recently written a book on the history of the Holy See's diplomatic relations
with Washington.
Alternatively, Franco suggests that Vatican has shown it is "out of
touch" with current events, leaving it vulnerable to criticism.
Swiss-born theologian Hans Kueng has called for a change of direction, away
from "the constant promotion of the extreme right." He says the pope
"is increasingly aloof from the people. He doesn't hear a thing in his
'kingdom'."
The pope's decision Saturday to name an ultraconservative Austrian priest as
auxiliary bishop seems to confirm this opinion.
The designated bishop, Gerhard Wagner, has previously condemned Harry Potter
books for their "satanist" content, and suggested in 2005 that
Hurricane Katrina was a punishment sent by God, as it destroyed five abortion
clinics.
Williamson has written a letter apologizing to the pontiff for the
"distress and problems" caused by his Holocaust-denying remarks, but
he has yet to retract them.
The reinstated SSPX bishops are part of a schism which formed when
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre rejected the process of liberalization put in place
during the Vatican Council of 1962-65.
In 1988, Lefebvre, disobeying orders by Pope John Paul II, consecrated the four
men as bishops, in a move which led to the excommunication of Lefevbre and his
four bishops.
The Vatican estimates that SSPX has around 600,000 members in the world, while
1.1 billion people are described as Roman Catholics.
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