Papst Benedikt XVI. und der Holocaustleugner

A defense of Pope Benedict XVI on the charge of countenancing Holocaust denial. The accusation arose because he refused to accede to a public demand to withdraw his revocation of the excommunication of four bishops of the schismatic Society of St. Pius X after one of them, Richard Williamson, in a TV interview, denied the scale of the Holocaust and the existence of the gas chambers. The public - Catholics, Jews, and others - did not understand that excommunication is only imposed (or imposes itself) for schism, and not for any other sin, however heinous; and that, when the schismatics express their will to reintegrate into the Church and accept its discipline, the excommunication is automatically annulled. Punishment for crimes is reserved for the state; the Church forgives all sinners, following the example of Christ. In a society that overwhelmingly rejects antisemitism and Holocaust denial, Catholics exhibited ritualized shock and shame; they felt that Williamson was polluting the Church. They demonized him and condemned him instead of trying to persuade him of his error. Since Vatican II, the Church has worked to educate its members against antisemitism, but it cannot excommunicate the millions (who are still a minority) who have remained antisemitic. Concludes that antisemitism and Holocaust denial will not be eradicated in the foreseeable future. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)