New Democrats protest Vatican welcome of anti-Semitism advocate

OTTAWA – The New Democratic Party are calling on Canadian Parliamentarians to speak out against the Vatican’s decision to welcome holocaust denier Richard Williamson into the fold.

“By rehabilitating Williamson, the Church has shown a stunning indifference to the international fight against neo-Nazi extremism,” declared MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) in the House today.

Bishop Williamson is a notorious anti-Semite and an outspoken supporter of neo-Nazi Ernst Zundel, jailed several times in Canada for publishing anti-Semitic material. In 1989, Williamson was investigated by Canadian police after he publicly defended Zundel from the pulpit of a Canadian Church. He claimed that mass killings in the gas chamber were “lies, lies, lies.”

“Last year, Williamson was just a Zundel fellow traveler,” said Angus. “Thanks to the Vatican decision he is now the most infamous anti-Semite in the world.”

“The fight against holocaust denial is international in scope and Canada can be proud of the role we played in fighting the extremist Ernst Zundel. Therefore Canadian parliamentarians must speak out against the Vatican’s decision to welcome Bishop Richard Williamson – a notorious promoter of the lies of Ernst Zundel.”

Angus and a number of New Democratic MPs are writing to Rome to express their condemnation of the decision to welcome Williamson and the members of the fringe organization “The Society of Pius X” back into full communion.