Published 25 January 2009 · Main Posts the rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier Jeff Sparrow Meet Mr Richard Williamson: “I believe there were no gas chambers… I think that 200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps but none of them by gas chambers,” he told SVT television in an interview that was recorded in Germany last November. “There was not one Jew killed by the gas chambers. It was all lies, lies, lies!” Mr Williamson, 68, who is the rector of the Seminary of Our Lady Co-Redemptrix in La Reja, Argentina, is no stranger to controversy. He has endorsed “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, a notorious anti-Semitic forgery, and claimed that Jews are bent on world domination. He supports conspiracy theories on the assassination of President Kennedy and the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, and has accused the Vatican of being under the power of Satan. Did I say Mr Williamson? Sorry, that’s Bishop Williamson to you – for the Pope’s just welcomed this hateful fellow (and three other right-wingers) back into the church fold. The Vatican’s explanation for reversing Williamson’s twenty-year excommunication is quite extraordinary: Senior Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi fought back yesterday, telling the Observer: “Williamson’s statements are not agreed with and are open to criticism, and they have nothing to do with the lifting of the excommunication. One is not connected to the other. The Society of Saint Pius X has itself distanced itself from these statements.” Here’s an overtly anti-Semitic individual ushered into a high position in the church hierarchy – and all the official Vatican mouthpiece can say is, well, we wouldn’t have made those comments ourselves. Denying the Holocaust is merely ‘open to criticism’; the Society of Saint Pius X ‘distances’ itself from such remarks. It doesn’t even rise to the level of condemnation. The Guardian‘s story ends like this: In its statement yesterday, the Vatican said Benedict was bringing the bishops back into the fold “with the hope that full conciliation and shared communion is achieved as soon as possible”. Yep, that’s right. Now that Williamson no longer thinks the Vatican a hotbed of Satanism, it’s ‘full conciliation and shared communion’ with a Holocaust denier. If a left-wing organisation maintained a known anti-Semite in a position of authority, they’d be denounced in every editorial in the country — and rightly so. Well, let’s see how Greg Sheridan, Gerard Henderson and the rest of the gang play this one. Jeff Sparrow Jeff Sparrow is a Walkley Award-winning writer, broadcaster and former editor of Overland. More by Jeff Sparrow › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 10 November 202311 November 2023 · Subscriberthon 2023 On the final day of Subscriberthon, Overland’s most important members get to have their say Editorial Team BORIS A quick guide to another year of Overland, from your trusty feline, Boris. I liked the ginger cat story, though it made my human cry. I liked the talking cat, too, but I’m definitely in the “not wasting my time learning to talk” camp. But reading is good. And writing is fun, though it’s been challenging […] 1 First published in Overland Issue 228 9 November 20239 November 2023 · Subscriberthon 2023 On the second-last day of Subscriberthon, Overland’s co-chief editor Evelyn Araluen speaks truth to power Editorial Team To my friends and comrades, I’m not sure if there’s language to communicate how this last month has utterly changed me. This time a few weeks ago the busyness and chaos of bricolage arts and academic labour had so efficiently distracted me from my anxiety about the upcoming referendum that I forgot to prepare myself for its inevitable conclusion.