Holocaust revisionist bishop charged in Argentina

Richard Williamson — the British-born bishop whose excommunication was reversed by Pope Benedict XVI in January — is now the subject of a complaint before an Argentine federal court.

The 68-year-old bishop stands accused of denying the Holocaust, according to evidence presented before Judge Julian Ercolini on Tuesday.

Williamson was expelled on Monday from his seminary at La Reja, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Buenos Aires.

In addition to Tuesday's complaint, he may face further charges.

The head of Argentina's National Institute Against Discrimination (INADI), Maria Jose Lubertino, said Williamson would also have to correct or confirm his claims.

“He is obliged to clarify the veracity of his claims. We are going to make a formal legal complaint and he may face up to three years in prison,” Lubertino said.

The institute has asked for copies of a Swedish television interview in which Williamson negates the existence of gas chambers in the extermination of six million Jews, Roma, and others during the regime led by Adolph Hitler.

“There was not one Jew killed by the gas chambers. It was all lies, lies, lies,” he told interviewers, while conceding that “200,000 to 300,000” Jews perished in concentration camps.

Those comments prompted a tidal wave of criticism of the Catholic Church, when it emerged that German-born Pope Benedict had annulled his excommunication just days later.

Williamson has not commented publicly about the controversy except to tell German news magazine Der Spiegel that he would study the historical record before recanting those views.

He was originally excommunicated for being ordained without the Vatican's permission.

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