Behind the Bishop: The Anti-Semitism of the SSPX

[moobu2]

How could the Pope be ignorant of all this?

DICKINSON, Texas — Twenty miles north of Galveston, at the busy intersection of two once-rural state highways that are now crowded with mini-malls and drugstores, stands the oldest church in the United States belonging to the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). A peaceful Catholic church with priests in residence, Queen of Angels shows no sign of the international controversy that erupted in January, when Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of four SSPX bishops.



Most of that controversy has centered on one of the reinstated bishops, Richard Williamson, who is infamous for his Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. In January, just a few days before the pontiff invited Williamson back into the church, he appeared on a Swedish TV program insisting the Nazis had no gas chambers. “I believe that the historical evidence is strongly against — is hugely against — 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler,” Williamson said. “I believe there were no gas chambers.

The Vatican said the pope had been unaware of Williamson’s views, which provoked a firestorm of criticism, some of it from ranking Catholic officials. By the end of January, the pope had decided Williamson would not be allowed to perform priestly functions unless he recanted his views. In early February, Williamson was also suspended from his post as head of the SSPX seminary in La Reja, Argentina, and SSPX Superior General Bernard Fellay issued an order forbidding Williamson to make “any public statements on political or historical issues.” Later in the month, Argentina expelled the bishop and he returned to his native England.

That wasn’t all. Fellay also told the world that Williamson’s beliefs “do not in any way reflect the position of our Society.” But the facts do not support him. The truth is that Williamson’s thinking reflects much of basic SSPX doctrine.

As the international furor over Williamson grew, SSPX officials rushed to scrub their websites of offending material. In February, for instance, a 1997 article by two SSPX priests that called for locking Jews into ghettos because “Jews are known to kill Christians” disappeared. But the makeover was far from complete.

Southern Poverty Law Center

[rockymountaindem]

1. I'd never even heard of those guys until now

Scary dudes, eh?

[moobu2]

2. I never knew about them either

I knew there were RW Catholics but I never heard of this group and how widespread it is.

[11cents]

3. I believe this is the faction Mel Gibson and his dear ol' dad are affiliated with.

[struggle4progress]

4. Gibson's a wacko, of related flavor, but I don't think he's actually SSPX

[CatholicEdHead]

5. Gibson's father's fraction is even more extreme than SSPX

Sometime in the 60's or 70's, protesters in Germany disillusioned then ArcBishop Ratzinger in Germany to many Vatican II reforms, this is why he feels his personal duty to bring back the older traditions and the SSPX has been the squeaky wheel on the fringe right. The old ways had this as an 'official' teaching for many centuries and SSPXers cannot disassociate themselves with it as they are stuck in the past which only exists in their heads.

[RetiredTrotskyite]

8. I believe the group...

to which I have linked is much more representative of Mel's fathers' beliefs.

http://www.truecatholicfaith.org/

And GMan I think you are right: Ratziner was likely closer to all this than anyone knows or can even imagine.

[Gman]

6. I'm Catholic and here is why I don't believe Benedict did not know about

the Holocaust denying of this group. Very simply, then Cardinal Ratzinger negotiated the agreement with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre where he would be allowed to ordain one bishop to be his successor. Lefebvre later reneged on the agreement and ordained 4 bishops which got himself and those 4 excommunicated. But I firmly believe that because Ratzinger was much closer with this bunch than anyone ever knew.

Here's the negotiated agreement: http://www.unavoce.org/protocol.htm

[RetiredTrotskyite]

7. I Belonged To This Lot of Nutcases...

back in the 70s. The Society of St. Pius X wants Catholicism as it was previous to the Second Vatican Council. And Sydney Carton, you are right: they are very, very anti-Semitic. These are people amongst which was a bigot named Donald Lobsinger (older folks from the Detroit area might recall the name) who ran a bookstore that sold stuff like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The only reason that the Society is distancing themselves from Williamson is that they don’t wish to risk upsetting their niche back inside the Church.