The Pope has lifted the excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church of four bishops appointed by a breakaway archbishop more than 20 years ago, igniting Holocaust row
January 24, 2009 – 11:07 pmOne of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s appointees, Briton Richard Williamson, outraged Jews by saying the Nazi gas chambers did not exist. Two of the other three appointees are French while the fourth is Argentinean. Israel’s envoy to the Vatican said the papal decision would “cast a shadow on relations with Jews”.
“We have no intention of interfering in the internal workings of the Catholic Church, however, the eagerness to bring a Holocaust denier back into the Church will cast a shadow on relations between Jews and the Catholic Church,” Mordechai Lewy told Reuters news agency.
Lefebvre, who died in 1991, rebelled against liberal reforms in the Church, such as the end of the Latin Mass. He opposed replacing the traditional Mass with services in national languages. The Vatican said the excommunications had been lifted after the bishops affirmed their willingness to accept Church teachings and papal authority.
BBC News: Pope move ignites Holocaust row
