LONDON 21/02/2009 1:02:39 AM - The ultra-conservative British bishop, who denied the Holocaust and mortified the Vatican, has been ordered to leave Argentina within 10 days or face being deported.
Bishop Richard Williamson, who until recently led the traditionalist Society of St Pius X Seminary at La Reja outside Buenos Aires, was told by the Argentinian Interior Ministry to leave after failing to declare his "real job" on his immigration forms.
A statement by the Minister for the Interior, Florencio Randazzo, said Bishop Williamson had not only failed to declare his true position as director of the seminary on his immigration papers but his denials of the Holocaust had also "profoundly insulted Argentinian society, the Jewish community and all of humanity by denying a historic truth".
Bishop Williamson unleashed a scandal across Europe after it was revealed that he had given an interview to a Swedish TV program arguing the gas chambers did not exist and only 300,000 Jews were killed not 6 million.
Bishop Williamson was ordered to recant his views - which he has refused to do - and was also forced to step down as director of the seminary.
The Pope's press secretary, Father Federico Lombardi, said the Vatican would not comment on the decision by Argentina. Since the controversy emerged, many of Bishop Williamson's speeches in obscure places have been unearthed and published on the internet. They reveal that his Holocaust denials have been a thematic favourite since the late 1980s.
He questioned the Holocaust while working in the US and in 1989 allegedly stated in a speech that "Jews made up the Holocaust, Protestants get their orders from the devil and the Vatican has sold its soul to liberalism".
The decision to expel the bishop was widely welcomed by Argentina's Jewish community, which is one of the largest in the world. Bishop Williamson has lived and worked in Argentina since 2003. According to Monsignor Bernard Fellay, the head of the Switzerland-based Society of St Pius X Fraternity, Bishop Williamson should be given time to reconsider his denials that the Holocaust occurred.
"He's working on the issue and he is responsible," Monsignor Fellay told the Swiss daily Le Nouvelliste.
"But we have to give him time because he wants to study seriously so that he can give a sincere and true response."
(Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/argentina-expels-holocaustde. ..)
Bishop Richard Williamson, who until recently led the traditionalist Society of St Pius X Seminary at La Reja outside Buenos Aires, was told by the Argentinian Interior Ministry to leave after failing to declare his "real job" on his immigration forms.A statement by the Minister for the Interior, Florencio Randazzo, said Bishop Williamson had not only failed to declare his true position as director of the seminary on his immigration papers but his denials of the Holocaust had also "profoundly insulted Argentinian society, the Jewish community and all of humanity by denying a historic truth".
Bishop Williamson unleashed a scandal across Europe after it was revealed that he had given an interview to a Swedish TV program arguing the gas chambers did not exist and only 300,000 Jews were killed not 6 million.
Bishop Williamson was ordered to recant his views - which he has refused to do - and was also forced to step down as director of the seminary.
The Pope's press secretary, Father Federico Lombardi, said the Vatican would not comment on the decision by Argentina. Since the controversy emerged, many of Bishop Williamson's speeches in obscure places have been unearthed and published on the internet. They reveal that his Holocaust denials have been a thematic favourite since the late 1980s.
He questioned the Holocaust while working in the US and in 1989 allegedly stated in a speech that "Jews made up the Holocaust, Protestants get their orders from the devil and the Vatican has sold its soul to liberalism".
The decision to expel the bishop was widely welcomed by Argentina's Jewish community, which is one of the largest in the world. Bishop Williamson has lived and worked in Argentina since 2003. According to Monsignor Bernard Fellay, the head of the Switzerland-based Society of St Pius X Fraternity, Bishop Williamson should be given time to reconsider his denials that the Holocaust occurred.
"He's working on the issue and he is responsible," Monsignor Fellay told the Swiss daily Le Nouvelliste.
"But we have to give him time because he wants to study seriously so that he can give a sincere and true response."
(Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/argentina-expels-holocaustde. ..)