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On
January 24th, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI lifted the
excommunication on four
men who were made Bishops by Archbishop Lefebvre in
1988 without
Vatican approval, thus incurring excommunication. It
turned out that
one of the four, Bishop Williamson, had recently given
and interview on
Swedish television in which he denied the extent of
the Holocaust,
affirming (among other things) that "There was not one
Jew killed by
the gas chambers. It is all lies, lies,
lies." The original
interview can be seen below. If the embedded version
does not work, it
can also be seen here
on YouTube
or here
on blip.tv.
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The
Jewish community has responded with pronounced
concern:
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On
the
morning of January 30th I spoke on EWTN radio about
the affair.
The short audio clip (7 minutes) may be heard here:
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When
the
story broke, the head of the Society of St. Pius X (or
"SSPX), to which
the four Bishops belong, condemned Bishop Williamson's
statements, and
ordered him not to speak on historical matters,
emphasizing that the
Society can only speak authoritatively on matters of
"faith and
morals." His response can be found here
(pdf file -- official SSPX press release)
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However,
most
distressingly,
it is precisely in those matters of "faith and morals"
in which the Society professes to be authoritative
that the Society
presents some of its most virulently anti-Semitic
teachings. The
following articles from its website purport to
represent authentic
Catholic teaching on the Jewish people:
(When
this page was originally put up the links were to the
articles at
www.sspx.org itself, but in response to the controversy
they have been
taken off the site, so these links are now to archived
copies. Needless
to say, taking the articles off the website to avoid
attracting
attention to them does not constitute repudiating the
views.)
Here
are a few short extracts from the rather lengthy article
"The Mystery
of the Jewish People in History". They are
word-for-word quotes, not
"out of context":
"The
Jewish people, once a mystery of goodness, is now
changed into a
mystery of iniquity. It is no longer Isaac, but Ishmael.
No longer
Jacob, but Esau. No longer Abel, but Cain.
Just
as in the kingdom of goodness the Jewish people had and
still has the
first place?, so also the first place in the kingdom of
evil must go to
it. The other peoples, if wishing to do the work of
evil, follow the
example of the carnalized, unrepentant Jewish people. If
the Gentiles
want to be carnal, they must judaize.
Judaism
is inimical to all nations in general, and in a special
manner to
Christian nations. It plays the part of Ishmael who
persecuted Isaac,
of Esau who sought to kill Jacob, and of Cain who put
Abel to death.
It
is an enmity disposed by God. The Jewish people, if it
has not
converted to Christianity, will, even if it does not
wish to, seek to
ruin Christianity.
Catholics are not to enter into commercial, social, nor
political
relations which are bound hypocritically to seek the
ruin of
Christendom. Jews must not live together with Christians
because this
is what their own Jewish laws ordain and also because
their errors and
material superiority have virulent consequences among
other peoples.
If
the unrepentant Jewish people are disposed by God to be
a theological
enemy, the status of this opposition must be universal,
inevitable, and
terrible.
Christendom
and Jewry are destined inevitably to meet everywhere
without
reconciliation or mixing. It represents in history the
eternal struggle
of Lucifer against God, of darkness against the Light,
of the flesh
against the spirit.
While
Capitalism fulfills its promises and is unquestionably
of incomparable
material greatness, it compromises the work of millions
of Christians
for the benefit of a much smaller number of the Jewish
people.
The
Catholic Church?s teaching is that [the Jews] should
neither be
eliminated from among us?nor given equality of rights.
1.
The Jewish people persecute Christendom.
2.
The Jewish people conspire against the Christian State.
3.
The Jewish people win control of property by usury.
4.
Jews are known to kill Christians.
Already
St. Justin (3rd century) said so. The Talmud allows it.
History
confirms it. It is certain that lives of Christians have
been taken:
St. William of York, 12 years old (1144); St. Richard of
Paris (1179);
St. Dominic de Val, crucified at Saragossa, Spain
(1250); Bl. Henry of
Munich (1345); Bl. Simeon (1475); the controversial
martyrdoms of Fr.
Thomas of Cangiano and his aide (1840) in Damascus.
As
grisly as they are, these four accusations can be
documented in every
period and country where Jews live with Christians.
The
Catholic Church perceives the deep desire of the Jewish
people to
impose its material superiority and the guilt of
Catholics who seek
this people to get material gain. The enslaving of
Christians and
Christian nations began by the fault of Christians.
If
Christians wish to remain free, let them avoid
entanglements with the
Jewish people. It dominates in every branch of commerce
and finance, in
philosophy and the universities?If the Gentile people
wishes for a
civilization based on economic greatness and the
comfortable life?then
it can have it, with the Jewish people as master and the
all the rest
as slaves."
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There
are
other disturbing aspects of anti-Semitism in the
Society of St.
Pius X. The Society priest in charge of Northern
Italy gave an
interview on January which also displays aspects
of
anti-Semitism. The following link is to a copy
of an article is
that appeared in the
National Catholic Reporter:
As
of now the article is still available in the NCR
archive.
I
hope this sheds some light on the underlying
situation. Let us
all pray that the Church be pure from all unGodly
sentiments and
beliefs against the Truth, and that the Church's
authentic love for and
understanding of the Jewish people lead many to come
to a full
knowledge of their "own" Messiah, Jesus Christ!
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