"Unacceptable and stupid"

Jane at Thoughts from an Oasis in French Catholicism has translated an article that appeared in La Croix this morning. See: Cardinal Kasper: Rome, Agence France Presse: Pope/Israel: 'Trip conditional on Gaza, not on a holocaust-denying bishop.'

The source for the La Croix article is an interview given by Cardinal Kasper to La Repubblica and the story has been put on the news services AKI and Agence France Presse, and probably others so it has gone around quite widely - here it is in the Hindustan Times. Here is the AKI story: Vatican: Cardinal slams bishop for Holocaust denial.

During the interview, Cardinal Kasper said of Williamson's holocaust denial:
"They are unacceptable words, stupid words. To deny the Holocaust is stupid and it is a position that has nothing to do with the Catholic Church."
Meanwhile, Cardinal Bagnasco, the President of the Italian Bishops' Conference has also denounced Williamson's views whilst affirming that the decision to lift the excommunications was merciful.

And today's Italian daily edition of L'Osservatore Romano has put an article on the front page which discusses the lifting of the excommunications and whether it was imprudent for Pope Benedict to have taken this action which might be seen as accepting holocaust denial. At the end of the article, quoting Nostra Aetate, it affirms that anti-semitism is unacceptable, that holocaust denial contradicts this teaching and is therefore very grave and regrettable and remains (despite the lifting of the excommunications) unacceptable.

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