“The Holocaust Remains a Warning Against the Power of Evil”

AsiaNews reports that, at today’s general audience, Benedict XVI directly addressed the sobering reality of the Holocaust as well as his recent decision to lift the excommunication on the bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X:

The Holocaust remains a warning against the power of evil and all forms of oblivion and negationism, Benedict XVI said today as he expressed his “full and unquestionable solidarity” with Jews. The Pope who mentioned his visit to Auschwitz also referred to his decision to lift the excommunication on bishops consecrated by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, urging them to accept the Second Vatican Council.

“Whilst I renew with affection the expression of my full and unquestionable solidarity with our (Jewish) brothers, I hope the memory of the Shoah (Holocaust) will induce humanity to reflect on the unpredictable power of hate when it conquers the heart of man,” the Holy Father said. The Holocaust, he added must be “a warning against oblivion, negation or reductionism because violence against even one human being is violence against all.”

Benedict XVI’s remarks come in response to the controversy caused by a traditionalist bishop, Mgr Richard Williamson, who has denied the gas chambers ever existed, cutting the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust to at best 300,000.

The Pope’s words also coincide with the decision by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate to cut ties with the Vatican, this according to The Jerusalem Post, following the lifting of the excommunication of the Lefebvre-consecrated Holocaust-denying bishop.

The Chief Rabbinate also cancelled a meeting scheduled for 2-4 March in Rome with the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.

As for relations with the followers of Archbishop Lefebvre, the Pope mentioned the parable of the Miraculous Draught of Fish to illustrate the constant quest for Church unity, saying he granted “the remission of the excommunication pronounced on four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre without pontifical mandate in 1988 . . . in compliance with this service of unity.”

“I performed this act of paternal mercy because the prelates expressed to me their heart-felt suffering over the situation in which they found themselves,” the pope said.

“I hope that my gesture will be followed by a considerate commitment on their part to take the necessary steps to realize full communion with the Church, thus showing true faithfulness to and recognition of the magisterium and authority of the Pope and the Second Vatican Council.”

(via Amy Welborn )