Since he ascended the Throne of St Peter Benedict XVI has shown a number of tendencies that are hard to miss. Chief among these tendencies is the reactionary urge to turn back the clock, block progressive reform and appoint like-minded reactionaries to bishoprics and other positions of influence in the Church. The agenda is one of restoration and it even includes bringing members of the Valais-based Society of St Pius X back into the fold.
Another trait that is hard to miss, is the tendency of the pope to play the innocent when it's difficult to believe that he doesn't know what's going on. On a number of occasions he has pretended he was not in possession of knowledge, that there is reason to believe he was in fact in possession of.
How could the Pope not have known about Richard Williamson's controversial views? Well only if he had spent his time in the Vatican cloistered with a bong, some great hash and a bag of mescaline buttons.
Given Williamson's and fellow bishops' Pius X Fraternity connections you would think that Benedict or an aide would have launched a Google query or two before bringing these oddballs back into the Church. They claim a web search never even occurred to them. The more likely explanation is that there wasn't much they didn't already know.
All-systems-go denial-mode only became necessary after Williamson's Holocaust denying remarks on Swedish TV and the massive international outcry that followed. But the Swedish TV comments were by no means the first time Williamson had gone public with his views. He made the same claims when he was rector of the St Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, Minnesota. He wrote in letters that "Judeo-Masonry brought about the first two world wars."
He made similar claims in Canada. During a speech in Notre-Damn-de-Lourdes church in Sherbrooke, he said:
"There was not one Jew killed in the gas chambers. It was all lies, lies, lies... The Jews created the Holocaust so we would prostrate ourselves on our knees before them and approve of their new State of Israel ... Jews made up the Holocaust, Protestants get their orders from the devil, and the Vatican has sold its soul to liberalism."
The Pius X Fraternity Williamson was involved with is well known for attracting right wing cranks with controversial views on everything from the Holocaust to democracy. There are other clues. Williamson is a close friend of the controversial historian David Irving, so close in fact Williamson showed up at a garden party held at Irving's home in Windsor last year.
Irving and Williamson
The well known Catholic theologian, Hans Kung, has candidly said that he believes the pope knew about the views of the four bishops. Kung doesn't go so far as to state that the pope knew explicitly about the Holocaust denial, but then Kung isn't exactly free to make such a judgment call. He described the move to reinstate the bishops as "a huge mistake" not just in respect to the relationship with Judaism, but also in respect to "freedom of religion and conscience in general, accommodation with the Protestant churches, rapprochement with Islam and other world religions, as well as reform of the liturgy".
The SSPX has long been accused of being a Fraternity in which anti-Jewish sentiment is commonplace. The political views it has been associated with place it on the far right of the political spectrum. Archbishop Lefebvre has attacked the French Revolution of 1789. He has spoken favorably of Philippe Petain, leader of the Vichy government (1940-1944). He has also expressed support for the Front National and its hardline leader Jean-Marie le Pen.
Benedict had to be well aware of the background noise associated with the SSPX. Also it's not as though he had never set eyes on Williamson before. From 2001 to 2005 Benedict - then cardinal Ratzinger- was a member of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. He sat in the front row, where he watched proceedings that involved the above mentioned bishops, including Richard Williamson.
As cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger was known to be a man of great intellectual capacity, with a wealth of detailed knowledge relating to Church business - and we are supposed to believe that he remained ignorant on the subject of Williamson's views?
The Williamson affair is just the latest in a number of moves the pope has made that suggest he is less than forthright in his approach when it suits his ends. This raises questions about his personal integrity, at a time when he is increasingly out-of-touch with grassroots Catholics. Many simply don't agree with his traditionalist priorities.
The SSPX has long been accused of being a Fraternity in which anti-Jewish sentiment is commonplace. The political views it has been associated with place it on the far right of the political spectrum. Archbishop Lefebvre has attacked the French Revolution of 1789. He has spoken favorably of Philippe Petain, leader of the Vichy government (1940-1944). He has also expressed support for the Front National and its hardline leader Jean-Marie le Pen.
Benedict had to be well aware of the background noise associated with the SSPX. Also it's not as though he had never set eyes on Williamson before. From 2001 to 2005 Benedict - then cardinal Ratzinger- was a member of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. He sat in the front row, where he watched proceedings that involved the above mentioned bishops, including Richard Williamson.
As cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger was known to be a man of great intellectual capacity, with a wealth of detailed knowledge relating to Church business - and we are supposed to believe that he remained ignorant on the subject of Williamson's views?
The Williamson affair is just the latest in a number of moves the pope has made that suggest he is less than forthright in his approach when it suits his ends. This raises questions about his personal integrity, at a time when he is increasingly out-of-touch with grassroots Catholics. Many simply don't agree with his traditionalist priorities.
