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Ever heard of 'Bishop' Richard Williamson? He does seem to be the level of crazy that would suit a character from Black Adder. He claimed that Pope John Paul II had a "weak grasp of Catholicism". He accused the Catholic churches leadership of being under "the power of Satan". I espouses conspiracy theories to explain the assassination of of Kennedy and September 11 terrorist attacks. He denounced the Sound of Music as containing "all the elements of pornography". He was unlawfully consecrated. He is strongly opposed to women wearing trousers. I referred to Jews as "enemies of Christ". He attends David Irvings garden parties and denied the holocaust on Swedish television. He quotes the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. And, as of last week, he is no longer excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
Oddly enough a lot of Jews are up in arms about the the removal of his excommunication, particularly the timing, so close to airing of his holocaust denial and holocaust memorial day in many countries. I actually think that in many ways Catholics have more to be concerned about than Jews. Lots of Catholic commentators have pointed out that holocaust denial isn't the sort of thing you generally get excommunicated for. He, and his merry band of nutjob 'traditionalist' friends, were excommunicated for engaging in unlawful consecrations, not their views on history or politics*. The thing that should worry Catholics is that the cause of their excommunication hasn't changed. None of them have renounced their status as bishops. They haven't shown any remorse over their actions. In fact they responded to the lifting of their excommunication with a press release which clearly indicated that they felt that Rome had been in the wrong all the time and that they hoped the lifting of the excommunication indicated that the Vatican was coming around to their way of thinking on these issues. You can read it here. Lifting their excommunication without any remorse on their side gives the impression of condoning their original action. Is Benedict trying to undo what happened on his watch at the CDF? Does it signal that he's so keen to undo Vatican II that he's willing to bring Julie Andrews-condemners on side? It doesn't seem to bode well for Catholics who like musical, trousers or services in the vernacular.
More detailed views can be found on:
Bishop Alan's blog
Ruth Gledhill's blog
Ed Kesler and the Tablets Rome correspondent don't mince their words on the issue on the Sunday program, which you can listen to on BBC iplayer.
*Although I think when it gets to the point of denying and tacitly supporting mass murder, perhaps it should be grounds for excommunication. I wonder what happened the the priests who collaborated in the Rwandan genocide.
Oddly enough a lot of Jews are up in arms about the the removal of his excommunication, particularly the timing, so close to airing of his holocaust denial and holocaust memorial day in many countries. I actually think that in many ways Catholics have more to be concerned about than Jews. Lots of Catholic commentators have pointed out that holocaust denial isn't the sort of thing you generally get excommunicated for. He, and his merry band of nutjob 'traditionalist' friends, were excommunicated for engaging in unlawful consecrations, not their views on history or politics*. The thing that should worry Catholics is that the cause of their excommunication hasn't changed. None of them have renounced their status as bishops. They haven't shown any remorse over their actions. In fact they responded to the lifting of their excommunication with a press release which clearly indicated that they felt that Rome had been in the wrong all the time and that they hoped the lifting of the excommunication indicated that the Vatican was coming around to their way of thinking on these issues. You can read it here. Lifting their excommunication without any remorse on their side gives the impression of condoning their original action. Is Benedict trying to undo what happened on his watch at the CDF? Does it signal that he's so keen to undo Vatican II that he's willing to bring Julie Andrews-condemners on side? It doesn't seem to bode well for Catholics who like musical, trousers or services in the vernacular.
More detailed views can be found on:
Bishop Alan's blog
Ruth Gledhill's blog
Ed Kesler and the Tablets Rome correspondent don't mince their words on the issue on the Sunday program, which you can listen to on BBC iplayer.
*Although I think when it gets to the point of denying and tacitly supporting mass murder, perhaps it should be grounds for excommunication. I wonder what happened the the priests who collaborated in the Rwandan genocide.