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Richard WilliamsonDeceased

Bishop consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988; expelled from the SSPX in 2012 (d. 2025)British bishop consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988 whose 2009 Holocaust denial led to a German conviction; expelled from the SSPX in 2012, he died in January 2025.

United KingdomSociety of Saint Pius X (SSPX)No analyses yet

About Richard Williamson

Richard Williamson was one of the four priests of the Society of Saint Pius X consecrated bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre at Écône on 30 June 1988 without papal mandate. A Congregation for Bishops decree of 1 July 1988 declared them excommunicated, and John Paul II's motu proprio Ecclesia Dei called the act schismatic (EWTN Library). Benedict XVI remitted the four excommunications in January 2009 as a first step towards talks on reconciliation (Catholic News Service via Detroit Catholic; timeline).

Holocaust denial. In an interview broadcast on Swedish television in January 2009, he claimed that "there were no gas chambers" and that up to 300,000 Jews, rather than six million, died in Nazi camps, as Catholic News Service recounted (Catholic Review). The Vatican said Benedict XVI had been unaware of these views when lifting the excommunication. SSPX superior general Bernard Fellay apologised and barred him from speaking publicly on political or historical questions (CNA). A court in Regensburg convicted him of incitement to hatred (Volksverhetzung) in 2010 and fined him €10,000; an appeals court upheld the conviction and reduced the fine to €6,500 (NBC News; World Jewish Congress). In February 2012 a higher court in Nuremberg quashed that judgment on procedural grounds (JTA); in January 2013 a Regensburg court convicted him again and fined him €1,800 (The Local), and in 2014 the Nuremberg court rejected his appeal against that conviction (JURIST). The Anti-Defamation League has published a report on the Society titled "The Society of St. Pius X: Mired in Anti-Semitism" (ADL). In 2018 the ADL documented that Williamson had reiterated his Holocaust denial (ADL).

Break with the SSPX. The Society expelled him in 2012, after he had strongly, publicly and repeatedly criticised its leadership for pursuing talks with Rome on full communion. On 19 March 2015 he consecrated Fr. Jean-Michel Faure a bishop without papal mandate in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, incurring automatic excommunication again; he is reported to have consecrated at least three other bishops afterwards (Detroit Catholic; EWTN News). Clergy and laity who followed him became known as the "SSPX Resistance" (Wikipedia).

Death. He died on 29 January 2025, aged 84; the SSPX announced his death (Edward Pentin; The Catholic Thing).

On the timeline

Full timeline

Dated events, newest first.

  1. Former SSPX bishop Richard Williamson dies at 84

    Richard Williamson, one of the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988, died on 29 January 2025 aged 84. Expelled from the SSPX in 2012, he had incurred excommunication again in 2015 by consecrating a bishop in Brazil…

    3 sources

    Excommunicated Bishop Williamson dies at 84 (Detroit Catholic (Catholic News Service))Expelled Society of St. Pius X bishop Richard Williamson dies at 84 (EWTN News)Excommunicated Holocaust-denying Bishop Williamson dies at 84 (Catholic Review (Catholic News Service))

  2. Richard Williamson consecrates Jean-Michel Faure a bishop without papal mandate

    In Nova Friburgo, Brazil, Richard Williamson, by then expelled from the SSPX, consecrated Fr. Jean-Michel Faure a bishop without a papal mandate. Under canon law both incurred automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication.

    SourcesBreakaway traditionalist prelate ordains new bishop, incurs new excommunication (Catholic World News)Bishop Richard Williamson, the "twice excommunicated" Catholic bishop (Inside the Vatican)

  3. SSPX expels Bishop Richard Williamson

    The Society of Saint Pius X expelled Richard Williamson, citing his distancing from the Society's leadership and his refusal to show due respect and obedience to his superiors. He had opposed the Society's talks with Rome.

    SourcesSSPX expels bishop who opposed talks with Vatican (National Catholic Reporter)Catholic group expels Holocaust denier, Bishop Williamson (The Jewish Chronicle)

  4. Swedish TV airs SSPX bishop Williamson's Holocaust denial

    Swedish television broadcast an interview in which Richard Williamson denied the existence of Nazi gas chambers. It aired as Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications of the four SSPX bishops. The Vatican said the pope had not known of his…

    SourcesExcommunicated Holocaust-denying Bishop Williamson dies at 84 (Catholic Review (Catholic News Service))Richard Williamson, excommunicated bishop who denied Holocaust, dies (America Magazine)

  5. Landmark

    Archbishop Lefebvre consecrates four bishops at Écône without papal mandate

    Archbishop Lefebvre, with Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer, consecrated Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta as bishops at Écône without a papal mandate, despite a formal canonical…

    SourcesEcclesia Dei (July 2, 1988) (Holy See)Bernard Fellay (Wikipedia)

Sources for this profile

  1. Ecclesia Dei (July 2, 1988) — Holy See, Jul 2, 1988
  2. Excommunicated Bishop Williamson dies at 84 — Detroit Catholic (Catholic News Service)
  3. Excommunicated Holocaust-denying Bishop Williamson dies at 84 — Catholic Review (Catholic News Service)
  4. Expelled Society of St. Pius X bishop Richard Williamson dies at 84 — EWTN News
  5. SSPX leader apologizes for Bishop Williamson's Holocaust denial — Catholic News Agency
  6. British bishop convicted of Holocaust denial — NBC News
  7. Conviction of Holocaust-denying Catholic bishop upheld by German appeals court — World Jewish Congress
  8. The Society of St. Pius X: Mired in Anti-Semitism — Anti-Defamation League
  9. SSPX Resistance — Wikipedia
  10. Richard Williamson (bishop) — Wikipedia
  11. Edward Pentin on X: "Bishop Richard Williamson has died at the age of 84, the SSPX has announced." — Edward Pentin (X)
  12. SSPX bishop, Richard Williamson, is dead at 84 — The Catholic Thing, Jan 31, 2025
  13. Bishop Richard Williamson Reiterates Holocaust Denial and Anti-Semitism — Anti-Defamation League
  14. Breakaway traditionalist prelate ordains new bishop, incurs new excommunication — Catholic World News
  15. Decree of Excomunication of Archbishop Lefebvre (1988) (Congregation for Bishops, 1 July 1988) — EWTN Library, Jul 1, 1988
  16. German court tosses conviction of Holocaust-denying bishop — JTA, Feb 23, 2012
  17. Court fines British bishop for Holocaust denial — The Local, Jan 17, 2013
  18. Germany court rejects bishop's appeal of Holocaust denial conviction — JURIST

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