It’s bad enough that there still exist Holocaust deniers, let alone within the Catholic Church. Would that this inexplicably repulsive revisionism were limited to the Mahmoud Amadinejads of the world.
But what was with that “apology” to Pope Benedict XVI by the offending cleric, the renegade Bishop Richard Williamson? He expressed regret to the pontiff for the “distress and problems” he had created. He called his Holocaust-denying remarks “imprudent.”
How about obscenely incorrect?
And how about not accepting such a sham “apology?” Especially if you’re the first German pope in 500 years.
But then, in the aftermath of an ecumenical firestorm, the pope got public relations religion.
Considerable impetus came from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who rebuked him for giving the impression that holocaust-denying was tolerable “imprudence.” Germany has this history. In fact, it’s an actual crime in Germany to deny the existence of the Holocaust. And the furor kept growing – one not limited to Germans and Jews.
So, Williamson has now been dismissed from his position as head of an Argentine seminary, and the pope has finally demanded that he recant his Holocaust denials. And what’s the cover story? The pope didn’t know about the British bishop’s controversial Holocaust views when he lifted his excommunication a fortnight ago. The pontiff apparently had been ill served by his briefers.
Oh.
But the pope’s spin meisters are not yet through. Benedict has one more sectarian hurdle.
The Ninth Commandment.