The Catholic seminary in Argentina led by Richard Williamson has ousted the cleric and repudiated his statements denying that Nazis used gas chambers to kill Jews during World War II. "Statements by Monsignor Williamson in no way reflect the position of our congregation," the St. Pius X Society (SSPX) for Latin America said in a statement issued. "It is clear that a Catholic bishop cannot speak with ecclesiastical authority except on matters concerning faith and morality," said the statement by the seminary, which is located outside the capital Buenos Aires. Fr. Christian Bouchacourt, the order's South America head, in the statement reacted "with sadness" to Williamson's "inopportune" remarks.
The Vatican recently came under fire for lifting the excommunication of Williamson and three other bishops. , who has so far not recanted his position. Williamson was one of four SSPX bishops welcomed back into the in an attempt to heal a decades-old split with traditionalists who did not accept the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The prelates are members of the Swiss-based "Lefebvrist" fraternity which notably rejected the Council's declaration "Nostra Aetate", according to which Jews are the "older brothers" of Christians and are no longer held responsible for killing Jesus Christ.
Williamson told this week's edition of the German news magazine 'Der Spiegel' that he would reexamine the historical evidence on Auschwitz. "If I find proof I would rectify [earlier statements]... but all that will take time," the British-born cleric was quoted as saying.
