In 1988, the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated four traditionalist bishops who had been ordained without the permission of the Vatican. The bishops lead the Society of Saint Pius x (sspx), an ultra-conservative group of about 600,000 that opposes the modernization of Catholic worship and doctrine.

On Saturday, Pope Benedict xvi lifted the excommunication of these four bishops. In a decree, the Vatican said it sought to overcome the “scandal of divisiveness” by reconciling with sspx. The pope’s comfort level with such conservative thinkers is hardly surprising. But what some may be surprised by is the fact that one of these reinstated bishops is a Holocaust denier.

This bishop, British-born Richard Williamson, rejects the idea that 6 million Jews died in World War ii, saying he believes the actual number is somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000. He also said, “I believe there were no gas chambers.”

Understandably, Jewish leaders say Williamson’s reinstatement will seriously damage the Jews’ relations with the Catholic Church and could well stoke the anti-Semitism that is already rising in Europe. The Guardian reports,

Relations between the Vatican and Jewish groups are already strained by the row over Pope Pius xii, who was pontiff during the Second World War, and is being considered by the Vatican for beatification. He is accused by some historians and Jewish leaders of failing to speak out against the Holocaust.Israeli officials recently protested when a senior cardinal said Israel’s offensive in Gaza had turned it into a “big concentration camp.”It is not the first controversy for Benedict. His decision to allow freer use of the old Latin mass, including a Good Friday prayer for the conversion of Jews, caused widespread anger. His reintroduction of the Latin mass earned him criticism from Jewish groups but brought him closer to the Swiss-based Society of Saint Pius x, which opposed many of the changes introduced in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council, including holding mass in local languages.

It is increasingly clear that the steps toward reconciliation between Jews and Catholics effected by Pope John Paul ii were essentially cosmetic. Biblical prophecy reveals the outcome of this relationship, and Benedict xvi’s willingness to tread on the Jews’ toes—as witnessed by this sequence of decisions—points toward that prophesied end. You can read about it in our booklet Jerusalem in Prophecy.