Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Latest on the SSPX Hoo-ha

I see on Rorate Cæli that Bp Williamson has apologized to the Pope and and Cardinal Hoyos for having stirred up so much trouble by his comments at the very time, as an act of mercy, the Holy Father was having the excommunication against him and his fellow SSPX bishops lifted. I hope charity toward him will prevail: not to resile from rejecting his offensive views, but in the matter of his excommunication being lifted to see it as an important step toward reconciling the SSPX with Rome, and to distinguish this from the need to demonstrate that the Church rejects anti-Semitism as a perversion of the Gospel, which is for Jews and Gentiles alike.  

It must be borne in mind that, even given his ugly reported remarks, the bishop certainly asserted that at the least hundreds of thousands of Jews did perish at the hands of the Nazis, and I assume that, as any Catholic, he laments such wicked murders: which would certainly not stamp him an vicious anti-Semite.  (I must say I don't really understand why people would wish to deny or minimize the Holocaust; but surely a neo-Nazi, a full-blown anti-Semite would exult in such slaughter, not downplay it.  What a mystery evil is.)

Never have I had dealings with the SSPX, who of course come in all types from friendly to scary, and I have been told that Williamson is rather odd and extreme even among them, for saying such things as "Destroy your television, that overflowing sewer of Satanic filth" and then, the next day, recommending to his followers' attention a rather nice documentary he watched on the television the night before!

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