Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Official Apology by Bishop Williamson

This Declaration from SSPX Bishop Williamson was released by the Pontifical Commission, Ecclesia Dei.


DECLARATION


The Holy Father and my Superior, Bishop Bernard Fellay, have requested that I reconsider the remarks I made on Swedish television four months ago, because their consequences have been so heavy.

Observing these consequences I can truthfully say that I regret having made such remarks, and that if I had known beforehand the full harm and hurt to which they would give rise, especially to the Church, but also to survivors and relatives of victims of injustice under the Third Reich, I would not have made them.

On Swedish television I gave only the opinion (..."I believe"..."I believe"...) of a non-historian, an opinion formed 20 years ago on the basis of evidence then available and rarely expressed in public since. However, the events of recent weeks and the advice of senior members of the Society of St. Pius X have persuaded me of my responsibility for much distress caused. To all souls that took honest scandal from what I said before God I apologise.

As the Holy Father has said, every act of injust violence against one man hurts all mankind.


+Richard Williamson
London 26 February 2009.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What was expected from this man was a straightforward refutation of his claims that up to 300,000 Jewish people were murdered by the Nazis, (historically based number is 6 million), and that gas chambers were not used. I don't see this refutation in his statement.

The link below is to a page from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Extermination Camp website, which contains a point by point refutation of the Holocaust deniers claims:

http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=1