The Church takes Holocaust denial very seriously. Read here for example. And yet, Douglas Bersaw of the Saint Benedict Center cult [Richmond, New Hampshire] has said that, "There's a lot of controversy among people who study the so-called Holocaust..There's a misperception that Hitler had a position to kill all the Jews. It's all a fraud. Six million people..it didn't occur." (Cherishing an Older Catholicism, The Boston Globe). And what does Louis Villarrubia ("Brother" Andre Marie, the "Prior" of the Saint Benedict Center) believe about the Holocaust? Read here.
One has to wonder why Catholic author Philip Lawler would attend the Saint Benedict Center Conference as a guest speaker. Two relevant posts here and here. Pope Benedict XVI has said that any minimization of the Holocaust is "unacceptable" (see here). This is one reason why the Saint Benedict Center cult is "unacceptable." Does Mr. Lawler believe differently?
Since any minimization of the Holocaust is "unacceptable" according to Our Holy Father, what course of action should be taken against Louis Villarrubia ("Brother" Andre Marie)? Readers of this Blog (and Russell Provosts Blog SBC Watch) will recall that when "Brother" Andre Marie was asked by Mary Richardson of the television program Chronicle whether or not 6 million Jews died during the Holocaust, he replied "I don't know, I'm not a historian." What is this but an attitude of "minimization" regarding the Holocaust? While he acknowledged that some Jews died "during the Second World War," his attitude was absolutely chilling as he spoke of the "subtleties of the Holocaust."
I want to know if Lawler will be attending the 2009 Saint Benedict Center Conference. He has never publically distanced himself from the SBC after all.
ReplyDeleteBut on February 5, 2009, Brother Andre-Marie said in a comment on Catholicism.org:
ReplyDeleteAt SBC, we are not “revisionists” or “Holocaust deniers,” so we don’t want to give credence to their claims. Neither do we wish to join the chorus of denunciations of Bishop Williamson for his imprudent remarks.
If you believe that, I submit that you need a class in remedial English. Douglas Bersaw, former "Prefect" of the Saint Benedict Center, is on record as having said, "There's a misperception that Hitler had a position to kill all the Jews...It's all a fraud..Six million people..it didn't occur." And you don't see this as Holocaust denial? Are you for real?
ReplyDeleteAs for "Brother" Andre Marie, the following exchange was televised on Chronicle:
Mary Richardson: "Do you believe in the Holocaust. That the Holocaust actually exists?"
Louis Villarrubia: "That's not our issue....I'm no historian...I'm not... I'm not capable of speaking to the, to the, to the issue of the Holocaust....uh, all the different subtleties there."
Mary Richardson: "So you don't know whether it happened?"
Louis Villarrubia: "Did Jewish people die during World War II? Absolutely."
Mary Richardson: "Did six-million people die?"
Louis Villarrubia: "I don't know, I'm not a historian."
If that's not minimization, which Pope Benedict XVI says is "unacceptable," what is it?
There's really no way around it. The Saint Benedict Center in Richmond is anti-Semitic. Not only has there been Holocaust denial and minimization, but the Jewish People have been referred to as the "Synagogue of Satan" and "Brother" Andre Marie has suggested that they "undermine public morality."
This is nothing short of disgusting. As is your feeble attempt to defend this hate.
Now the SBC is saying "we are not 'revisionists' or 'Holocaust deniers,' so we don’t want to give credence to their claims."
ReplyDeleteThis is yet another lie from the SBC. They have lied about their status in the Church. They have lied about Mr. Villarrubia being an ordained deacon in the Catholic Church. Now they are lying about their Holocaust denial.
But the public record speaks for itself. The offensive comments issued by SBC types cannot be retracted. They were made in the public forum.
I saw your post link at Technorati. The very idea that an organization which passes itself off as Catholic would engage in such rubbish is alarming. These people should be excommunicated. Imposture is also serious.
ReplyDeleteThe SBC has a history of engagin in falsehood. You are absolutely correct Stewart. "Brother" Andre Marie, who is not a religious brother in the Catholic Church, was photographed wearing a biretta at a schismatic church in Florida and his cult followers assert that he's an ordained deacon. The whole organization is one big scam. The Church has spoken and has informed the faithful that this cult has no permission to do ministry in NH and has "no affiliation" with the Roman Catholic Church.
ReplyDeleteI posted here 2 days ago with facts and references pertaining to the goings-on in Richmond, Nh with the SBC and their members. Why have you ignored my posting, Mr. Melanson?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I am not ignoring your comment. But I couldn't publish it as it was written. This because you referred to the SBC - Richmond, NH - as a "terrorist organization" and implied that ALL traditional Catholics are not really Catholic but are outside of the Church's communion.
ReplyDeleteI didn't publish your comment because calumny is a very serious sin which I will not be a party to and because your comment was libellous as written. While I agree with some of what you wrote (even most), I could not in good conscience publish the comment as written.
If you want to re-submit your comment without the offensive portions, I will happily publish it. As I'm sure you know, I oppose the Saint Benedict Center because of its' refusal to accept the Church's understanding of Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus and because the organization is not affiliated in any way with the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, I consider the group to meet the definition of a cult. However, just as I have refused to publish calumnious remarks about opponents of the SBC (obviously left by SBC supporters), so I extend the same courtesy to members of the SBC and its supporters - even while disagreeing with them.
This Blog deals in facts. Not emotion.
You don't have to post this, but thank you, Mr. Melanson. Venting is always helpful.
ReplyDeleteHow do you explain the recent edition of "Mancipia" which shows Br. Andre dressed up for a High Mass in a local Catholic Church, wearing the dalmatic of a Deacon? Does that mean that his "orders" are now accetable in the eyes of the Church?
ReplyDeleteI find this disturbing, as information on his ordination is that he comes from the line of the Old Catholic (Celtic Old Catholic Church) of Great Britian, via "Bishop" Simmons, who also bestowed ordination on a former Sede Vacantist, Fulham of Florida, who passed it to Andre. One website (if you do a google on Bishop Simmons) states that his Church regarded his "orders" as invalid, for deception or something of that nature. And SBC would permit one to be involved with that?
What goes on here?