Vatican: Apology doesn't suffice
Bishop must recant on Holocaust, it says.
VATICAN CITY - An apology from a bishop who denied the Holocaust wasn't good enough, the Vatican said yesterday. It said he must repudiate his views if he wants to be a Roman Catholic clergyman.
The statement by Bishop Richard Williamson "doesn't appear to respect the conditions" the Vatican set out for him, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a spokesman for Pope Benedict XVI.
Last month on Swedish state TV, Williamson denied six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, saying about 200,000 or 300,000 were murdered. He said none was gassed.
On Thursday, Williamson apologized for his remarks, saying he never would have made them had he known "the full harm and hurt to which they would give rise." But he did not say that he had been wrong or that he no longer believed what he had said.
German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries said yesterday that Germany could issue a European-wide arrest warrant on hate-crimes charges for Williamson; the Swedish TV interview was conducted in Germany, where Holocaust denial is a crime.
Williamson's remarks drew outrage among Jewish groups and others. They also embarrassed the Vatican, being broadcast just days before the Holy See announced it was lifting Williamson's excommunication.
Bowing to the criticism, the Vatican demanded Feb. 4 that he "absolutely and unequivocally distance himself from his remarks" to be admitted to episcopal functions.