http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/
RORATE
CAELI
Thursday, February 26,
2009
The Holy Father and my
Observing these
consequences I can truthfully say that I
regret having made such remarks, and that if I had known beforehand the
full
harm and hurt to which they would give rise, especially to the Church,
but also
to survivors and relatives of victims of injustice under the Third
Reich, I
would not have made them.
On Swedish television I
gave only the opinion (..."I believe"..."I believe"...) of
a non-historian, an opinion formed 20 years ago on the basis of
evidence then
available and rarely expressed in public since. However, the events of
recent
weeks and the advice of senior members of the Society of St. Pius X
have
persuaded me of my responsibility for much distress caused. To all
souls that
took honest scandal from what I said before God I apologise.
As the Holy Father has
said, every act of injust violence against one man hurts all mankind.
+Richard Williamson
posted by New Catholic
at 1:57 PM 76
comments
THOUGHTS AND AFTER THOUGHTS
When
a person apologises, more is said about his or her
accusers when they either reject the apology or belittle it. Those who
have “known”
Bishop Williamson since before he was ordained a priest and can say
unreservedly that he has not an undue nationalist, racist or
anti-Semitic bone
in his body. That is one reason the late Archbishop Lefebvre chose him,
among
three others, for episcopal consecration. (It should be remembered that
Pope
John Paul II invited the Archbishop to submit to the Holy Father a
terna, i.e.
three names, of SSPX priests from which the Pope would chose one to be
consecrated.) It is also true that Bishop Williamson has not a
dishonest or
politicising bone in his body. Indeed, Bishop Williamson possesses two
qualities noticed in truly great men. First, he has an extraordinary
ability to listen and absorb what is being said. His interlocutor never
gets
the impression that he is speaking at cross-purposes with His Lordship.
Second,
he possesses a quality which allows a person to
true Christian patriotism, without unwarranted nationalist aggrandising
his
country. Quintessentially English, he is so serene in his personal and
national
identity that no one, to my knowledge, has ever heard him utter words
or express
attitudes usually found in people whose lists of dislikes (of people
and
peoples) are miles long. Even when speaking about the Holocaust,
ironic, as it
may seem, the Bishop never actually expresses pre-judiced opinions
about the
Jews. Indeed, he is quite capable of having friends who are Jewish (or
Moslem)
and remind them that they should be Christian, without giving offence,
no less
than Our Lord who preached to the Jews.
Perhaps
because he is an old boy (alumnus) of the oldest,
and most prestigious,
+
[A Catholic Prelate]