Madam, – Rev Conor Cunningham (February 17th) seems unaware of the depth of shock and offence caused by the decision to lift excommunication from the Holocaust-denying Lefebvrist bishop Richard Williamson. One must understand that the “never again” of Nazism and the Holocaust is the very foundation of modern Germany.
Holocaust denial is a serious crime in both Germany and Austria, and for good reason. Anyone who wonders why this is such an important and sensitive issue should read the books of post-war politicians such as Helmut Schmidt, or ponder what it was that made Willy Brandt kneel at the Warsaw Ghetto monument in 1970.
This is what has led to unprecedented public criticism of the Pope's decision from the German bishops, from German chancellor Angela Merkel, and even by the very conservative and ultramontane Austrian Cardinal Schönborn. In an interview in Die Zeit(February 5th), the chief rabbi of Vienna, Chaim Paul Eisenberg, mentions that his father (also a chief rabbi) told him: "You can never be sure what the Catholics are really up to". These are very harsh reactions from peaceable leaders who weigh their words carefully.
I hope Rev Cunningham will realise this is about more than the "wacky" opinions of some harmless eccentric. Williamson actually believes the abominable anti-Semitic tract Protocols of the Elders of Zionis a historical document! On the other hand, Fr Iggy O'Donovan did the matter no service by referring once again to the Pope's one-time membership of the Hitler Youth. As anyone acquainted with the relevant history knows, that is no indication that someone was a culpable fellow traveller of Nazism.
The decision on Williamson is not shocking because of anything in Pope Benedict’s own past, but simply because, as a German, he must have been aware of the probable consequences. Williamson’s holocaust denial was known to the Vatican; and for Germans, Argentina (with its large German community) is not such a faraway country as it seems to be for Rev Cunningham. – Yours etc,