Excommunicated theologian attacks Pope for lifting the excommunications

Controversy over Catholic Holocaust deniers

Ranke-Heinemann accuses Pope of trivialising anti-Semitism

This Pope's decision provokes worldwide criticism: Benedict XVI has readmitted Holocaust denier Richard Williamson to the Catholic Church. "Intolerable and shameful", says theologian Uta Ranke-Heinemann to SPIEGEL ONLINE - and reproaches the Pope.

Pope Benedict XVI has caused a storm of indignation with the rehabilitation of Holocaust denier Williamson and three other bishops of the arch-conservative Fraternity of Saint Pius X. The four bishops had been consecrated by ultra-conservative French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1988 without Vatican approval.

"That a German Pope should fatherly embrace a Holocaust denier like a son who has returned home is particularly intolerable and shameful for all Germans," said Ranke Heinemann, who herself was excommunicated in 1987.

One of those now rehabilitated is British-born Richard Williamson, who has repeatedly challenged the systematic genocide of Jews during National Socialism. Most recently, in an interview broadcast on Swedish television on Wednesday, he stated that he did not believe in the existence of gas chambers. He also claimed that up to 300,000 Jews were killed in German concentration camps, not six million. The Regensburg public prosecutor's office is investigating Williamson because he gave the interview during a visit to the seminary of the Fraternity of Pius X in Zaitzkofen.

Central Council warns of "ice age", Vatican speaks of "gesture of peace"

Especially among Jewish organisations, Benedict XVI's decision caused horror. The Vice-President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, described Benedict's decision in the "Handelsblatt" as an "almost inconceivable act of provocation". That a German Pope, of all people, should conjure up a new ice age between Jews and the Catholic Church was particularly painful, astonishing and condemnable.

The President of the Italian Rabbis, Giuseppe Laras, also expressed his incomprehension. This step by the Vatican, which was not necessary, had taken place in a delicate phase of the Jewish-Christian dialogue. "We can't see inside the Pope's head, nor do we want to, but this is certainly not an action that will bring détente."

The German Bishops' Conference distanced itself from Williamson. The British bishop's denial of the mass murder of Jews was "unacceptable" and did not belong to the teachings of the Catholic Church, Matthias Kopp, spokesman for the German Bishops' Conference, told the ZDF morning show. "Williamson will have to retract his statement sooner or later." He added that the Church had "mechanisms" to influence him accordingly. The outrage of the Jewish communities over the denial was "very understandable", Kopp said.

The President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Hans Joachim Meyer, said people like Williamson were a "heavy burden" for the Church. It had always been known that there was a close connection between the traditionalists' rejection of the results of the Second Vatican Council and their "reactionary and anti-freedom attitude", a statement by the Central Committee said.

The vice-president of the Central Committee of German Catholics, Heinz-Wilhelm Brockmann, defended the Pope's move in the "Frankfurter Rundschau" as an attempt to "create more unity in the Church". He said the Vatican was approaching a group that had distanced itself from the Church on many issues. Apparently, the public reactions had not been considered, but the Brotherhood was becoming a partner in dialogue through the lifting of the excommunication, Brockmann said. He called the denial of the Holocaust "totally unacceptable and a terrible stubbornness". If a bishop makes such a mistake in a political and historical assessment, this does not mean "that the Pope must maintain an excommunication for the entire fraternity, which was pronounced for completely different reasons".

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