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Richard Nelson Williamson, SSPX (born 8 March 1940) is a bishop of the Society of St. Pius X. He was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church because of his unauthorized consecration by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, deemed by the Holy See to be "illicit" and "a schismatic act".
Early life and ministry
Williamson was born in England, the second of three boys to Anglican parents. He attended Winchester College. After taking a degree in literature at the University of Cambridge, he taught at a college in Ghana. During this time he was greatly influenced by Malcolm Muggeridge and many believe this started his process of conversion to Catholicism. During his time in Africa, Williamson met with an elderly Albert Schweitzer in Gabon.
In 1971 Williamson was received into the Roman Catholic Church by Father John Flanagan, an Irish missionary priest working in England. After some time as a novice at the London Oratory, Williamson entered the Society of International Seminary of St. Pius X at Ecône in Switzerland. In 1976 he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
Williamson's first appointment was as a professor at the German seminary of the Society in Weissbad, and after two years he was named at the St. Pius X International Seminary in Ecône, Switzerland. In 1983 he was transferred to St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Within a short time he was appointed rector of the seminary which moved to Winona, Minnesota in 1988.
Consecration and excommunication
Template:Bishop controversy SSPX
Life after 1988
After his episcopal consecration Williamson remained rector of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary. He performed various episcopal functions, including confirmations and ordinations. In 1991, he assisted in the consecration of Licínio Rangel as bishop for the Priestly Society of St. John Mary Vianney after the death of its founder, Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer.
In 2003 Williamson was appointed rector of the Seminary of Our Lady Co-Redemptrix in La Reja, Argentina.
In 2006, Williamson ordained two priests and seven deacons in Warsaw, Poland for the Priestly Society of Saint Josaphat, a group led by the priest Basil Kovpak whose 2003 excommunication by the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church was declared null on procedural grounds, but who was definitively excommunicated in November 2007. This action was considered illicit by the Catholic Church as Williamson violated canons 1015 §1 and 1017 of the Code of Canon Law, as he, acting outside his own jurisdiction, did not have the permission of the diocesan Bishop, and as he did not have valid dimissorial letters (cf. canons 1018 and 1019) authorizing him to perform the ordination anywhere.
Episcopal succession
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Ordination history of Richard Williamson | |||||||||
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Bibliography
- The Rural Solution: Modern Catholic Voices on Going Forward to the Land (2003, with P. Chojnowski, W. Marx, W. Nutting, C. McCann)
- Letters from the Rector - Volume 1: The Ridgefield Letters (2007)
- Letters from the Rector - Volume 2: The Winona Letters (set for 2008 publication)
References
- Apostolic Letter 'Ecclesia Dei'
- ^ "Lefebvrists face crisis as bishop is exposed as 'dangerous' anti-Semite". The Catholic Herald. Catholic Herald Limited. 3/5/2008. Retrieved 06/24/2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Text "First -Anna" ignored (help); Unknown parameter|Last=ignored (|last=suggested) (help) - "Ukrainian priest excommunicated". Catholic World News. CWN. 11/23/2007. Retrieved 06/24/2008.
SSPX Bishop Richard Williamson illicitly ordained two SSJK priests and seven deacons.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - "Canon Law". 1983 Code of Canon Law: The Celebration of Ordination and the Minister. Vatican. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
External links
- Dinoscopus: A collection of weekly columns by Bp Richard Williamson.
- Bishop Williamson's Letters to Friends and Benefactors, 1991-2003
- Quelques Infos Entre Nous (includes Bishop Williamson's Letters, 2004-2006)
- Traditionalist criticism of Richard Williamson's doctrinal stance