Vatican Rejects Holocaust-Denying Bishop's Apology

The Vatican has today said it will not accept the apology issued by a bishop who denied the Holocaust, deeming it insufficient to admit him into the church as a clergyman.

Spokesman for the Vatican, Rev Federico Lombardi, said Richard Williamson's apology - after causing a worldwide uproar over comments he made in a Swedish television interview denying the existence of Nazi gas chambers - "does not seem to respect the conditions" set forth by the Vatican, when it ordered him to "in an absolutely unequivocal and public way distance himself from his positions" regarding the Holocaust.

Yesterday, Williamson said: "To all souls that took honest scandal from what I said, before God I apologise."

Williamson also said: "I can truthfully say that I regret having made such remarks, and that if I had known beforehand the full harm and hurt to which they would give rise, especially to the church, but also to survivors and relatives of victims of injustice under the Third Reich, I would not have made them."

Earlier, Jewish leaders said the bishop had failed to address the issue of whether he believed the Holocaust was a lie.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles, said the statement "is not the kind of apology that would end this matter" as it failed to address the central issue.

Mark Frazer, a spokesman for the Board or Deputies of British Jews, also said: "The Jewish community and many more besides will be unmoved by this apology.

"The Vatican were very clear that Richard Williamson must recant, yet he continues to refuse to do so. Sadly, this late regret comes across as nothing more than an empty sentiment from a man under the pressure of public scrutiny."

The Society of St. Pius X has distanced itself from Williamson's remarks and removed him as the director of its seminary in La Reja, Argentina.

See: Holocaust Denying Bishop Arrives Back In UK

(JM/BMcC)