The Vatican has ordered a bishop who denied that Jews were gassed in chambers during the Holocaust , to publicly recant his views if he wants to serve as a senior cleric in the Roman Catholic Church. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Vatican also said the traditionalist movement Richard Williamson belongs to must accept all teachings of the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council, which urged respect for Judaism and other religions, as well as all the teachings of the popes since 1958.

"Williamson, must in an absolutely unequivocal and public way distance himself from his positions regarding the Shoah," a statement said, using the Hebrew word for Holocaust.
His views on the Holocaust were "absolutely unacceptable and firmly rejected by the Holy Father [Pope Benedict XVI]," it added. Williamson told Swedish television in an interview last year that he believed "there were no gas chambers".
He also said no more than 300,000 Jews died in Nazi concentration camps, rather than the six million accepted by mainstream historians.
Williamson later apologised to the pope "for the unnecessary distress" he caused him, but has not yet recanted his statements.
The Vatican said the pope was not aware of Williamson's denial of the Holocaust when the pontiff lifted excommunication orders on him and three other traditionalist bishops last month.
Source: Al Jazeera