Pope Benedict addresses the Shoah; SSPX rebukes Richard Williamson's anti-semitic remarks

While I renew with affection the expression of my full and unquestionable solidarity with our brothers receivers of the First Covenant, I hope that the memory of the Shoah leads mankind to reflect on the unpredictable power of evil when it conquers the heart of man. May the Shoah be for all a warning against forgetfulness, against denial or reductionism, because the violence against a single human being is violence against all. No man is an island, a famous poet write. The Shoah particularly teaches, both old an the new generations, that only the tiresome path of listening and dialogue, of love and of forgiveness lead the peoples, the cultures, and the religions of the world to the hoped-for goal of fraternity and peace in truth. May violence never again crush the dignity of man!

Excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI's General Audience, which includes a clarification of his intentions for lifting the excommunications on the hierarchy of the SSPX as an invitation for them to "full communion with the Church, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope and of the Second Vatican Council."

• Superior General of the SSPX: Bishop Williamson forbidden to speak on political or historical matters January 27, 2009:

  We view this matter with great concern, as this exorbitance has caused severe damage to our religious mission. We apologize to the Holy Father and to all people of good will for the trouble it has caused.

  It must remain clear that those comments do not reflect in any way the attitude of our community. That is why I have forbidden Bishop Williamson to issue any public opinion on any political or historical matter until further notice.

• Note of the District Superior for Germany of the SSPX:

  The banalization of the genocide of the Jews by the Nazi regime and of its horror are unacceptable for us.

  The persecution and murder of an incalculable number of Jews under the Third Reich touches us painfully and they also violate the Christian commandment of love for neighbor which does not distinguish ethnicities.

  I must apologize for this behavior and dissociate myself from such a view.

  Such dissociation is also necessary for us because the father of Archbishop Lefebvre died in a KZ [concentration camp] and because numerous Catholic priests lost their lives in Hitler's concentration camps.