Pope Benedict has reinstated as a Bishop a Holocaust and 9/11 denier. To put it succintly: this is far more than tacit support for an antisemite. It makes the Vatican look utterly stupid.
Up until now Benedict, as a German who served in the German forces during the war, has been exceptionally senstitive about all things related to antisemitism. He certainly was not here.
David Irving boasts on his website that Williamson attended his last garden party. They deserve each other. Imagine their chit chat.
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The Catholic church was created by forgery, sustained by forgery, and kept in power throughout the ages by forged documents, so nothing they do will surprise me.
Pope Pius XII's actions during the Holocaust, he remained silent while German atrocities were committed will not be forgotten. He refused pleas for help from Jewish organisations on the grounds of church neutrality. So much for the doctrine of love thy neighbour.
Reinstated is to strong a word. Williamson and his co-bishops are no longer excommunicated. As such they are not certain to go to hell. (And to make it clear: I am an atheist and have never been a catholic.) But they are still suspended and the SSPX is not back in full communion.
The pope's problem was that he either had to lift the excommunication on all four SSPX bishops or none. Simply because they were all excommunicated for the same reason.
It does make the Vatican look rather stupid, but if they are ever to accept the SSPX back into the church, it is a necessary first step. Even if the SSPX threw Williamson out, the pope still would have to lift Williamsons excommunication if he was to lift it from the others.
Now, on the other hand, the pope may set conditions for letting the SSPX back into full communion. My guess is that Williamson will have to go. Or that he declares himself a sedevacantist and leaves by himself, to avoid being thrown out.
It is an embarrassing situation for the church, but they are rather desperate to get the SSPX back into the church, exactly to "heal the only formal schism after Vatican II".
At the same time they will make the distance greater between the church and even crazier bunch that is sedevacantist traditionalism, like the SSPV and the kind of people Mel Gibson and his dad hangs out with.
"Up until now Benedict...has been exceptionally sensitive about all things related to antisemitism."
I disagree. When Benedict visited Auschwitz he made some exceptionally insensitive comments. For example, saying that the Holocaust was forced on the German people by a small group of criminals (despite all evidence to the contrary). And, saying that Hitler's real goal in exterminating the Jewish people was to destroy "the taproot" of Christianity.
Finally, Benedict has reinstated a prayer during the "good friday" services that calls for the conversion of all Jews. To be fair, this prayer is only recited in the "Latin" services that are said under the older prayer book, not in the vernacular services that most people attend; but still, why allow it to be included at all?
The Catholic Church and Christianity in general continues to send mixed messages about what it feels the status of Judaism is. This latest incident is just one more example.
Further thoughts on Pope Pius X11:
This Pope was kept informed by the Catholic Bishops about what was happening to the Jews of Europe, he knew long before it became public knowledge about the euthansia centres, the mass shootings, the reprisal actions, the public hangings, and the camps.
Camp guards prayed regularly in Catholic churches, and one can assume that many of them told the priest about what was happening and what their duties were, and this was reported back to Rome.
Whats more galling is that within a 1 - 4 miles circle from every German concentration camp stood a Catholic Church, and the smoke from the Auschwitz crematorium chimneys could be clearly seen from the local Catholic church?
One needs to ask did the local Priest ever visit a camp, did he ever protest at what was happening, or did he write to the Commandant or Pope protesting strongly at what they were doing? Was this because the local priests took their lead from the Popes silence and acts?
The Pope made a huge mistake doing this, and there will be hell to pay for it. But as Arnfinn Petersen said above, post number two, the Pope's hand was forced, he had to do it to heal a rift within the church. And these four guys were not re-instated, they had their excommunication taken back. Still, it reeks of papal politics and it's a bad PR move for the Pope. But does he care one iota what the Jewish people think of him or his church? Not one iota. He lives in his own fairytale world of false messiahs and pagan resurrections. What can one expect? Par for the course.
Here's the problem: The New York Times website headline says "reinstates" (since the headline writer needed a short word that fit there, even though it is the wrong term) while the news story itself says "revoked the excommunications..."
As Poster No. 2 above Mr Petersen explains, there is a big difference between re-instate and revoke the excommuncaitons....
So it's a language thing here. Bad headline by the Times....
RE:
Pope Reinstates Four Excommunicated Bishops
Pope Benedict XVI, reaching out to the far-right of the Roman Catholic Church, revoked the excommunications of four schismatic bishops
We cannot blame the writer Ms Donadio for this. It was the headline writer in NYC who goofed and made the gaffe....
Google Search words: *Religion in Nazi Germany: [Random quotes taken from WWW-sites] What an eye-opener these are!
[1] Germany's Roman Catholic Church has admitted the magnitude of its involvement in the use of forced labour during World War II. A 700-page report says 1,000 prisoners of war and some 5,000 civilians were forced to work for the Nazis in support of the German war effort. They were drafted from 800 Catholic-run institutions across the country. The Church had previously paid $2m in compensation to foreign workers. "It should not be concealed that the Catholic Church was blind for too long " said Cardinal Karl Lehmann. The Protestant Church has admitted a similar use of forced labour.
[Quote 2] Nazi-era Berlin church for sale: Decorated with Nazi-style carvings: The Martin Luther Memorial Church in Berlin, decorated with Nazi-style carvings, is up for sale after being closed for 3 years. Consecrated in 1933, the year that Adolf Hitler seized power, the church has proved an embarrassment for more than 50 years. Reliefs include German soldiers among the groups of Christ's followers. A chandelier shaped like an iron cross, a German military symbol, lights the entrance. Even the figure of Christ on the cross bears the face of a victorious Aryan. Built 1933-1935, the church's interior decoration was notably Nazi in style.
[3] Slovak bishop praises Nazi regime as "a time of well-being"
There has been uproar in Slovakia after the archbishop of Bratislava Jan Sokol described life in the fascist wartime Slovak state as "a time of well-being". 70,000 Slovak Jews were deported, under a deal in which the Slovak government paid Nazi Germany to take them.
[4] Bishop with golden Nazi Party badge helped nazis to flee:
The Vatican is to release archives showing if a senior bishop helped Nazis escape justice. Monsignor Alois Hudal gained the nickname Black Bishop for his pro- Hitler views. He even had a golden Nazi Party membership badge. He has long been suspected of providing passports and other help for Nazis trying to flee the allies. Brief extracts taken of the www.
No doubt if Hitler had been killed in the bomb plot the Catholic Church would have offered him their *absolution services*?
Mordechai Lewy, Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, was actually right: Israel doesn't [and shouldn't] have any intentions to interfere in the internal workings of the Catholic Church.
Now, if only the Israeli government would demand the same respect from the accursed Vatican. But how is that possible when the bloody vulture Shimon Peres (and others of his treacherous ilk) are collaborating with Babylon to undermine Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, especially the coveted Temple Mount?
Instead of wringing hands over real or imagined holocaust-deniers (or the questionable proportion of the holocaust), and how it could throw fuel on the fires of antisemitism, let Jews use their hands productively: pack your bags and go home to Israel where you belong!
Rome's final revival is imminent and Europe's New Crusade in near.
To Hell with Pope Benedict and Bishop Williamson! May the rats eat their mail.
"Old habits cast long shadows."
A possible [modern] Interpretation [of a Religious Question] to an Ancient Dictum:
Hillel's actual answer to the Question of the potential convert:
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: this is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary; now go and study."
--Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a.
[A Possible Modernly Paraphrased Question From the Potential Convert who went to Hillel (2000 years ago) asking him to teach him Torah while standing on one leg:]
Teach me…
Concerning your tradition of ‘[Too Often Misunderstood] true Religious Intelligence’ while standing on one leg?
[A possible paraphrased answer from Hillel:]
It is to lack as much Common Sense
toward others as you would like others to lack
Common Sense toward you.
"The rest is commentary; now go and study."
I hope Hillel will not mind my [casual] paraphrasing of his famously fine comment–
with my attempt at an inner Mirroring of his ever patient outer Answer to a valid Question put to him by a potential convert [also, a human being]–
by rolling over in his ancient grave.
Yet…
Would Shammai [Hillel's contemporary] have ever been able to evolve such an ‘answer’ toward the potential convert?
If not, what would have been the factors influencing and causing Shammai to be thinking
[otherwise] in his ruling [by way of action]? [Shammai's ruling: chasing away the potential convert with a builder's rod.]
Evenso…
All of the above could be applied to any perspective concerning any social matter whether ‘religious’ or ’secular’ or a little
of ‘both’ mixed.
Hillel [a most patient human being] gave the most fair and objective answer to what could [possibly] have been [potentially] a most irksome Question to some…
and then said:
“The rest is commentary; now go and study.”
All other opinions that could be expressed and all else that could be written concerning those opinions would be but commentary on that.
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