SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER REACTION TO APOLOGY OF BISHOP WILLIAMSON

February 26, 2009

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER REACTION TO APOLOGY OF BISHOP WILLIAMSON

Catholic traditionalist cleric Bishop Richard Williamson apologized today for remarks made in a television interview where he expressed doubts about the Nazi Holocaust

“Bishop Williamson’s 'apology' failed to address the central concern of whether he still believes the Nazi Holocaust is a fabrication and that Auschwitz death camp is a lie,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center. “Today’s declaration is a cleverly worded attempt to apologize to the Pope and the leaders of the Church for the anguish he has caused them, while avoiding the reason for their anguish, his denial of the Holocaust and his labeling the gassing of Jews a lie,” Hier added.

“Bishop Williamson should not be accepted by the Pope until he openly acknowledges that the Holocaust is a historic fact and terrible example of man’s inhumanity to man,” Rabbi Hier said.

“In our history, the Wiesenthal Center’s team of Holocaust survivors has successfully deprogrammed neo-Nazis and Klansmen who also were Holocaust deniers. The same team is available at our Museum of Tolerance to deprogram him,” concluded Hier.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036.