Bishop regrets 'distress' to pope
VATICAN CITY - A bishop recently rehabilitated by Pope Benedict XVI expressed regret yesterday to the pontiff for the "distress and problems" he caused by denying the Holocaust.
VATICAN CITY - A bishop recently rehabilitated by Pope Benedict XVI expressed regret yesterday to the pontiff for the "distress and problems" he caused by denying the Holocaust.
In a letter to the Vatican, Bishop Richard Williamson, who denied in a recent TV interview that six million Jews had been murdered by the Nazis, called his remarks "imprudent."
The letter was posted on Williamson's personal blog and addressed to Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who has been dealing with his rehabilitation and that of other renegade bishops who had been excommunicated.
The Holocaust denial had outraged Jewish groups and many others. It was not immediately clear whether Williamson's letter - which contained no apology for the content of his remarks - would ease that anger.
"Amidst this tremendous media storm stirred up by imprudent remarks of mine on Swedish television, I beg of you to accept, only as is properly respectful, my sincere regrets for having caused to yourself and to the Holy Father so much unnecessary distress and problems," Williamson wrote.
A papal spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he had "nothing to say about this letter. Everyone can evaluate it as they see fit." Lombardi said he did not know whether the pope or the cardinal had seen it.
The bishop in the letter also offered the pope his "sincere personal thanks" for lifting the excommunication.
Earlier yesterday, Israel's ambassador to the Holy See, Mordechay Lewy, said the Jewish state had good relations with the Vatican, despite the flap over Williamson's comments.
On Wednesday, Benedict expressed what he called his unquestioned solidarity with Jews and issued a stern warning against any denial of the full horrors of the Nazi genocide.
