Controversial bishop flies to UK

The Bishop who questioned the truth of the Holocaust arrived in Britain this morning.

Bishop Richard Williamson who made headlines when he questioned the Holocaust came into Heathrow on a flight from Buenos Aires after being asked to leave by the Argentinean government. He was escorted through a waiting media scrum to a waiting vehicle.

Bishop Williamson had worked at the St Pius X Seminary in Buenos Aires for five weeks before being asked to step down following his remarks which questioned the existence of gas chambers in Nazi concentration camps. He has since said he will 'review the historical evidence' on the subject.

A spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales said he did not know where Bishop Williamson was going after his arrival, adding, "he does not fall into the jurisdiction of any of the England and Wales bishops because he is not in full communion with the Catholic Church."

Sources believe that the Bishop will spend some time at the London headquarters of the Society of St Pius X in Wimbledon.

first posted 25 February 2009