In 1988, Williamson was one of four Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) priests illicitlyconsecrated as bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, for which Pope John Paul II declared he had incurred ipso factoautomatic excommunication. The validity of the excommunication has always been denied by the SSPX, who, citing canon law, argue that the consecrations were permissible due to a crisis in the Catholic Church. The excommunications, including that of Williamson, were lifted on 21 January 2009 but the suspension of the bishops from ministry within the Catholic Church remained in force.
Immediately afterward, Swedish television broadcast an interview recorded earlier at the SSPX's seminary in Zaitzkofen, Bavaria. During the interview, Williamson expressed his belief that no more than 200,000 to 300,000 Jews were killed during the Holocaust and that Nazi Germany did not use gas chambers. Based upon these statements, he was charged with and convicted of Holocaust denial by the district court of Regensburg, Germany. The Holy See declared that Pope Benedict had been unaware of Williamson's views when he lifted the excommunication of the four bishops. He said that Williamson would remain suspended from his episcopal functions until he unequivocally and publicly distanced himself from that stated position on the Holocaust. In 2010, Williamson was convicted of incitement in a German court in relation to those views; the conviction was later vacated on appeal. He was convicted again on this charge in a retrial in early 2013. Williamson appealed again, but his appeal was rejected.
After a number of incidents, including calling for the resignation of Bernard Fellay as the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, refusal to stop publishing his weekly email and an unauthorised visitation to Brazil, Williamson was expelled from the Society in 2012. After leaving the Society, Williamson consecrated Jean-Michel Faure, Tomás de Aquino Ferreira da Costa, and Gerardo Zendejas [pl] as bishops in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Because of these consecrations, he was excommunicated latae sententiae from the Catholic Church again in 2015.[7]
Early life and ordination
Williamson was born on 8 March 1940 in London, England[8][9][10] He was the son of a John Blackburn Williamson, a manager at Marks & Spencer, and Helen Nelson, a Paris-born mother of American heritage.[11][12] Williamson attended Winchester College before going on to study at Clare College, Cambridge, where he received a degree in English literature.[13][8] Upon graduating, he served in Africa as a missionary for a brief period.[14]
Williamson, originally an Anglican, converted to the Catholic Church in 1971.[15] After a few months as a postulant with the Oratorians of Brompton Oratory, he left.[16] He became a member of the Society of Saint Pius X, a traditionalist Catholic faction founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in protest against what Lefebvre saw as the liberalism of the Second Vatican Council.[14] In common with other traditionalists, Williamson opposed the changes in the Catholic Church following the Second Vatican Council. He saw the changes as being unacceptably liberal and modernistic, and as being destructive to the Church.[17][18][19] Among the changes he opposed were the Church's increased openness to other Christian denominations and other religions,[17][20] and changes in the forms of Catholic worship such as the general replacement of the Tridentine Mass with the Mass of Paul VI.[21] Williamson criticised Pope John Paul II, to whom he attributed a "weak grasp of Catholicism".[22] Williamson held that the SSPX was not schismatic, but rather was composed of true Catholics who were keeping the "complete Roman Catholic apostolic faith".[17][18][23][19]
Williamson was viewed as being located towards the hardline end of the traditionalist spectrum, though he did not go quite so far as to espouse sedevacantism.[34][35][36]
Williamson held strong views regarding gender roles. He opposed women wearing trousers or shorts,[37][38][39] attending college or university, or having careers.[40][41] He urged greater "manliness" in men.[37][39] He denounced the film The Sound of Music as "soul-rotting slush" and said that, by putting "friendliness and fun in the place of authority and rules, it invites disorder between parents and children."[42][43] He was dismissive of Mother Teresa because of her supposedly 'liberal' views.[44]
Williamson expressed antisemitic views.[47][48][6] He called Jews the "enemies of Christ" and urged their conversion to Catholicism.[49][50][51] He said that Jews and Freemasons contributed to the "changes and corruption" in the Catholic Church.[52][53] He stated that Jews aim at world dominion[13][54] and believed The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to be authentic.[13] Williamson denied that he was promoting hatred,[55] identifying the contemporary enemies of the faith as "Jews, Communists and Freemasons".[53][55] He argued that "Anti-Semitism means many things today, for instance, when one criticizes the Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip. The Church has always understood the definition of anti-Semitism to be the rejection of Jews because of their Jewish roots. This is condemned by the Church."[56]
Since the late 1980s, Williamson was accused of Holocaust denial.[53][57][58][59][60][61] Citing the pseudoscientificLeuchter report,[56] Williamson denied that millions of Jews were murdered in Nazi concentration camps and the existence of Nazi gas chambers[15][62][63] and praised Holocaust denierErnst Zündel.[53] During an interview on Swedish television recorded in Germany in November 2008, he stated: "I believe that the historical evidence is strongly against, is hugely against six million Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler",[63] and "I think that 200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps, but none of them in gas chambers."[15][62][58]
Controversy over lifting of excommunication
During the early 2000s, SSPX and the Church leadership in Rome sought to heal the rift between them. Williamson opposed compromise,[64][65] accusing the Vatican of deceit[35] and of being under "the power of Satan".[17][36] He was reported as viewing reconciliation between the SSPX and the Holy See as being impossible, and that some SSPX members might refuse to follow the Society in such a direction even if an agreement were reached.[13][65][66]
Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications of the four bishops Marcel Lefebvre had consecrated, as they had requested.[58][62][67] The decree was signed on 21 January 2009, the same day that Williamson's interview denying the Holocaust was broadcast on Swedish television.[62][68][69] The decision stirred widespread outrage,[62] particularly in Germany, where the interview was conducted and where Holocaust denial is illegal and punishable by imprisonment of up to five years.[70] Reaction from the State of Israel and much of the worldwide Jewish community was strongly negative, and Abraham Foxman, president of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote to Cardinal Walter Kasper in order to express his opposition to any ecclesiastic re-integration of Williamson.[71] The Chief Rabbinate of Israel suspended contacts with the Vatican. The Chief Rabbi of Haifa told The Jerusalem Post that he expected Williamson to retract publicly his statements before any dialogue could resume.[72]
Pope Benedict XVI responded by stating he deplored all forms of antisemitism and that all Catholics must do the same.[73] The Pope expressed his "unquestionable solidarity" with the Jewish people, and stated his hope that "the memory of the Shoah will induce humanity to reflect on the unpredictable power of hate when it conquers the heart of man",[74] and condemned the denial of the Holocaust.[75][76] Vatican officials stated that they had not been aware of Williamson's views prior to the lifting of the excommunication;[77][78][79] as a result, in a July 2009 Vatican reorganisation, the Pope tightened control and supervision over reconciliation efforts with SSPX.[80] The Vatican declared that "in order to be admitted to episcopal functions within the Church, (Williamson) will have to take his distance, in an absolutely unequivocal and public fashion, from his position on the Shoah, which the Holy Father (i.e., the Pope) was not aware of when the excommunication was lifted.".[81][1]
Williamson sent the Pope a letter expressing his regret about the problems that he had caused, but did not retract his statements.[82][83] On 4 February 2009 the Vatican Secretariat of State issued a note stating that Williamson would have to distance himself unequivocally and publicly from the opinions that he had expressed before he would be permitted to act as a bishop within the Church.[84][85] Williamson responded that he would do so only after looking at the historical evidence for himself.[56] On 26 February, he formally apologised for the offence that had been caused by his comments, but did not indicate that he had changed his views.[86][87] The Vatican rejected his apology, stating that he needed to "unequivocally and publicly" withdraw his comments. Jewish groups expressed disappointment at the ambiguity of his apology, because he failed to address the consensus about the Holocaust.[86]
Bishop Bernard Fellay of the SSPX initially denied any responsibility, stating that Williamson's statements were his alone and that the affair did not concern the SSPX as a whole.[88] However, he subsequently forbade Williamson from speaking out publicly about historical or political matters, and asked Pope Benedict for forgiveness for the damage done by Williamson's statements.[89] He stated that if Williamson again denied the Holocaust, he would be excluded from the society.[73][90] In a subsequent interview he likened Williamson to uranium, asserting that "It's dangerous when you have it," but you can't "simply leave it by the side of the road."[91] Williamson was removed as the head of the seminary in La Reja, Argentina in February 2009,[63] and the same month the government of Argentina asked Williamson to leave the country over irregularities with his visa, and stated that his recent statements about Jews "profoundly offend Argentinian society, the Jewish people and all of humanity".[92] On 24 February 2009, Williamson flew from Argentina to London, where he was met by Michele Renouf, a former model known for her antisemitic views, with whom he had been put in touch by Holocaust denier David Irving.[56][93][94][95] Williamson subsequently repeated the denial to followers, stating that "The fact is that the 6 million people who were supposedly gassed represent a huge lie."[91]
Conviction for Holocaust denial
On 4 February 2009, German prosecutors announced the launch of a criminal investigation into Williamson's statements.[96] In October 2009, a German court, using an "order of punishment" fined Williamson €12,000 after finding him guilty of Holocaust denial.[97] Williamson denied the charges and appealed, paving the way for a full hearing that Williamson did not need to attend.[98] He did not attend the trial, on orders from his society, on charges of inciting racial hatred in Regensburg, Germany on 16 April 2010, and was found guilty. The court reduced the fine to €10,000.[99] Lawyers from both sides appealed the fine; the lawyer Williamson hired was the former leader of the Wiking-Jugend, an outlawed Neo-Nazi group.[100] The Society of St. Pius X ordered Williamson to find a new lawyer under threat of expulsion.[100] His appeal was held on 11 July 2011. The lower court's decision was upheld at appeal, but the fine was reduced to €6,500, reportedly due to Williamson's financial circumstances.[101][102] On 22 February 2012 the higher court dismissed this conviction, finding that the initial charges against Williamson had been inadequately drawn, having failed to specify the nature of his offense, or at what point his filmed comments came under German jurisdiction, or in what sense he be held liable for failing to prevent their publication in Germany.[103] On 16 January 2013, he was prosecuted and convicted again, but this time with a much-reduced fine of €1,600 because of his "unemployed state". He refused to pay the fine and appealed again,[104] but his appeal was dismissed.[105] On 31 January 2019 the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Williamson’s attempt to overturn a conviction for Holocaust denial on the grounds of free speech.[106][107][108]
Expulsion from SSPX
In August 2012, Williamson administered the sacrament of confirmation to about 100 laypeople at the Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Cross in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, during an unauthorised visit to the State of Rio de Janeiro. The society's South American district superior, Christian Bouchacourt, protested against his action on the SSPX website, saying that it was "a serious act against the virtue of obedience."[109] In early October 2012, the leadership of the SSPX gave Williamson a deadline to declare his submission, instead of which he published an "open letter" asking for the resignation of the Superior General.[110] On 4 October 2012, the Society expelled Williamson in a "painful decision" citing the failures "to show respect and obedience deserved by his legitimate superiors".[111]
Final years and death
On his return from Argentina, Williamson settled in Broadstairs, Kent.[112] After his expulsion from SSPX, he created the Priestly Union of Marcel Lefebvre, later known as “SSPX Resistance,” gathering Catholics who opposed the SSPX's compromising with the Vatican.[112][113]
Williamson continued to espouse anti-semitism views including that Jews were manipulating the stock market in order to start a world war.[114][113] He suggested that Jews caused the COVID pandemic in order to reduce the population and enslave the world.[114][113][112][115] In 2023, he appeared on Iranian television on which he blamed Jews for the assassination of John Kennedy, for 9/11, and for the war between Russia and Ukraine.[113]
After his return to the UK Williamson held regular traditional Latin Masses near his home, as well as at a library in Earlsfield, London.[115] The bookings at the library were cancelled when his views became known in 2022.[115][113]
Williamson independently ordained six bishops.[112] On 19 March 2015, Williamson ordained Frenchman Jean-Michel Faure, a former member of the SSPX, as a bishop in a ceremony in Nova Friburgo, Brazil. Like Williamson, Faure opposed reconciliation discussions between the SSPX and the Catholic Church. As this was done without papal mandate, both Faure and Williamson incurred a latae sententiae excommunication.[116] The SSPX condemned the consecration as "not at all comparable to the consecrations of 1988" and as proof that Williamson and Faure "no longer recognize the Roman authorities, except in a purely rhetorical manner".[117]
^Allen White, David (2018). The Voice of the Trumpet. Marcel Editions. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-1940306162. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ abMcAteer, Michael (15 April 1989). "Maverick bishop confirms Lefebvre's way". Toronto Star.
^ abc"Bishop's homily ranges from Columbus to 'JFK'". The Salt Lake Tribune. 28 March 1992. pp. A12.
^Farney, Dennis (23 August 1995). "Paranoia Is Becoming An Article of Faith in a Tiny Kansas Town – A Split Among Its Catholics Is as Much About Suspicion As It Is About Doctrine". The Wall Street Journal.
^ abPapadakis, Mary (14 July 2002). "Catholic right over 'sect'". Sunday Herald Sun.
^Williamson, Richard (1 September 2001). "Bishop Williamson's Letters | Girls at University | Emancipation's Mess of Pottage (Gen. XXV, 29–34)". St. Césaire, QC: SSPX | District of Canada. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2019. A woman can [...] do a good imitation of handling ideas, but then she will not be properly thinking as woman. [...] Did this lawyeress check her hair-do just before coming into court? If she did, she is one distracted lawyer. If she did not, she is one distorted woman. [...] Alas, women going to university is part of the whole massive onslaught on God's Nature which characterizes our times.
^Williamson, Richard (November 2009). "The Film 'The Sound of Music'". Leofec Network. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2019. Sure enough, [...] she gives a dazzling demonstration of the superiority of liberty and equality over stuffy old Austrian ways! [...] As for cleanness, many films may be worse than the Sound of Music, but stop and think – are youth, physical attractiveness and being in love the essence of marriage? Can you imagine this Julie Andrews staying with the Captain if 'the romance went out of their marriage'? Would she not divorce him and grab his children from him to be her toys? Such romance is not actually pornographic but it is virtually so, in other words all the elements of pornography are there, just waiting to break out. One remembers the media sensation when a few years later Julie Andrews appeared topless in another film. That was no sensation, just a natural development for one rolling canine female.
^Weisbord, Robert G.; Sillanpoa, Wallace P. (1992). The Chief Rabbi, the Pope, and the Holocaust: An Era in Vatican-Jewish Relationships. New Brunswick, London: Transaction Publishers. p. 194. ISBN978-0-88738-416-5. Williamson denies that Catholics and Jews worship the same god. Jews worship the god of the Talmud who is 'a devil, an absolute devil'. — "Williamson, one of Lefebvre's chief spokesmen in the United States", refers to:John3:18: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." 8:44: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
^Legge, Gordon (15 April 1989). "Holocaust stance probed". Calgary Herald.
^"The Holocaust: Zeal and ignorance". The Windsor Star. 20 April 1989. pp. A.10.
^Williamson, Richard (17 May 2010). "Holocaust-Leugner Williamson: 'Es geht um Beweise'" [Holocaust denier Williamson: 'It's about evidence'] (Interview) (in German). Munich: Süddeutsche Zeitung. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2019. Dem Heiligen Paulus gemäß seien die 'Juden geliebt um der Väter willen, aber unsere Gegner um des Evangeliums willen'. Letztlich bedürften 'alle Menschen zu ihrer Erlösung Christus, ... auch die Juden'. — The interviewee refers to:Romans11:28: "As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes." John14:6: "[N]o man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
^Williamson, Richard (3 October 2000). "Bishops' Meeting With Cardinal Hoyos". Leofec Network. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019. I do believe that behind the Cardinal, as I said last month, there are villains at work, either Judeo-masons or prelates working for Judeo-masonry, who are far more sinister than this Cardinal is. These villains, I do believe, are using front-men like the Cardinal for as long as he is useful to their Revolution. He is, in Lenin's phrase, "a useful idiot", who will be cast aside the moment he no longer serves their forward march to the One-World-Religion. — Quoted by:Allen Jr., John L. (30 March 2001). "Pope in talks with Lefevbre group". National Catholic Reporter. Kansas City, MO. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
^ abWilliamson, Richard (6 February 2008). "Interview with Bishop Williamson regarding controversial positions" (Interview). Interviewed by Stephen Heiner. True Restoration. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019. Only a fool is against Jews simply because they are Jews. There can be very few directors of Traditional Catholic seminaries, who have invited, as I once did, a Jewish rabbi to address seminarians. [...] [O]nly a Catholic who does not understand his faith is not against the enemies of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am against Jews or Gentiles who are enemies of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
^Williamson, Richard (9 February 2013). "Fourth Trial". Eleison Comments (in German and English). No. 291. St. Louis, MO: St. Marcel Initiative. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
