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Richard Williamson
Sign in to saveAlso known as Richard Nelson Williamson, Bp Williamson
Catholic Traditionalist bishop, formerly member of the SSPX, Holocaust denier
OverviewAI-generated
Richard Williamson was born in London on 8 March 1940 and was educated at Winchester College and Clare College. A Christian, he served as a Catholic bishop and priest and belonged to the Society of Saint Pius X, having been consecrated by Marcel Lefebvre and Antônio de Castro Mayer. Williamson was convicted of Holocaust denial and was represented by legal counsel Maximilian Krah. He died in Margate on 29 January 2025.
Synthesized by Vinony from 18 facts across 1 sources: Wikidata. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Key facts
- Ordination
- 29 June 1976, by Marcel Lefebvre
- Consecration
- 30 June 1988, by Marcel Lefebvre
- Born
- Richard Nelson Williamson , ( 1940-03-08 ) 8 March 1940, London , England
- Died
- 29 January 2025 (2025-01-29) (aged 84), Margate , England
- Denomination
- Traditionalist Catholic
- Alma mater
- Winchester College , University of Cambridge , International Seminary of Saint Pius X
- Motto
- Fidelis inveniatur
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Richard
- Family name
- Williamson
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Place of birth
- London
- Place of death
- Margate
- Occupation
- Catholic priest
- Educated at
- Winchester College
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- Christianity
- Image
- Bishop Richard Williamson.jpg
- Convicted of
- Holocaust denial
- Religious order
- Society of Saint Pius X
Show 6 more facts
- date of birth
- 1940-03-08
- Commons category
- Richard Williamson (bishop)
- consecrator
- Antônio de Castro Mayer
- name in native language
- Richard Williamson
- legal counsel
- Maximilian Krah
- date of death
- 2025-01-29
via Wikidata · CC0
~21 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Richard Nelson Williamson (8 March 1940 – 29 January 2025) was an English traditionalist Catholic bishop, conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier who was twice excommunicated from the Catholic Church. He was formerly a member of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).
Born in London, Williamson opposed the changes in the Church brought about by the Second Vatican Council. In 1988, Williamson was one of four SSPX priests consecrated as bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, for which Pope John Paul II declared all parties had incurred ipso facto automatic excommunication. The validity of the excommunication has always been denied by the SSPX, who, citing canon law, argue that the consecrations were permissible due to a crisis in the Catholic Church. The excommunications, including that of Williamson, were lifted on 21 January 2009 but a suspension from ministry remained in force.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Richard Williamson” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.