Holocaust-denying bishop is excommunicated for second time

A Holocaust-denying Catholic bishop has been excommunicated for a second time by the Vatican after illicitly ordaining a bishop, religious agency Imedia said Friday.

British bishop Richard Williamson, who sparked an outcry in 2009 by denying the Nazis used gas chambers, was automatically expelled after illegitimately consecrating a new bishop in Brazil on Thursday — a stunt punishable under canon law.

Williamson, 75, was first excommunicated in 1988 after he and three others were ordained against papal orders by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X.

He was brought back into the Church by Benedict XVI in 2009 — despite having given an interview, aired days before the decree, in which he said he did not believe Jews were killed in gas chambers during World War II.

An embarrassed Vatican said it had not been aware of the comments, but Williamson was kept on as part of a bid to heal the rift between the Church and the fundamentalist society.

Williamson has opposed efforts to reconcile with the Holy See, believing the Church was led astray from the true path by the reformist Second Vatican Council. His expulsion is likely to further hamper attempts to bridge the divide.

People who are excommunicated are expelled from the Church, unless they repent, and are considered to be condemned to Hell in the afterlife.