Has the Purge Begun, by David Gibson, dotCommonweal, February 6, 2009

Has the Purge Begun?

By David Gibson
dotCommonweal
February 6, 2009

http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=2776

Not only has the SSPX started removing questionable texts on Jews from their websites, but word is now that clergy who refuse to adopt a new line are also getting the boot.

Rorate Caeli cites Italian sources reporting that Father Floriano Abrahamowicz, the SSPX priest responsible for Northeast Italy, was expelled today. As John Allen has written, Abrahamowicz "has questioned whether the Nazis used gas chambers for anything other than 'disinfection'." He also "referred to Jews as 'a people of deicide'…and suggested that the Jewish Holocaust has been 'exalted' over what he called 'other genocides,' such as the Allied bombing of German cities and the Israeli occupation of the Gaza strip."

The text of the SSPX note, which has not been posted officially, reads as follows:

"The action is in effect from Friday, February 6, and was taken for grave reasons of discipline. Father Floriano Abrahamowicz had expressed for some time positions distinct from the official ones of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X. The decision of the expulsion, though painful, was made necessary to avoid that the image of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X be distorted and, with it, that its work in the service of the Church be damaged."

This could get ugly. But it certainly seems to signal that the schismatic Traditionalists of the SSPX may be getting serious about "cleaning" up their act. Could Williamson's "recantation" be next? And what would Pope Benedict XVI do then?