German Chancellor Angela Merkel today praised the Vatican's "unequivocal" demand that British-born Bishop Richard Williamson recant his denial of the Holocaust before he can be rehabilitated.
Also this week, the president of the U.S. bishops' conference condemned Williamson's remarks as "deeply offensive and utterly false." And the head of the ultra-traditionalist Catholic group to which Williamson belongs said, "Anti-Semitism has no place in our ranks."
Hmmm. It's hard to miss the antagonistic view of Catholic-Jewish relations contained in the official literature of Williamson's group, the Society of St. Pius X, and in past statements by the society's leaders. Religion News Service has an article.
From today's Boston Globe's story:
The controversy has damaged the reputation of Benedict, for whom the Holocaust is a particularly sensitive issue because he is a native of Germany who served a compulsory stint in the Hitler Youth. The controversy has also threatened to damage Jewish-Catholic relations, which had improved dramatically since the Second Vatican Council."The world of Jewish-Christian relations is pretty much aflame over this," said Ruth Langer, an associate professor of Jewish studies at Boston College. And John L. Allen Jr., who follows the Vatican for the National Catholic Reporter, said, "They are facing massive global backlash to this decision."
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