Well, not the Pope but his "Foreign affairs minister", just a technical difference.

From the "NOTE OF THE SECRETARIAT OF STATE" of February 4, 2009:

<< The positions of Bishop Williamson on the Shoah are absolutely unacceptable and firmly rejected by the Holy Father, as he himself remarked this past January 28, when, referring to that brutal genocide, he reconfirmed his full and indisputable solidarity with our brothers who received the First Covenant, and affirmed that the memory of that terrible genocide must lead “humanity to reflect on the unpredictable power of evil when it conquers the human heart,” adding that the Shoah remains “a warning for all against hate, against denial or reductionism, because violence against even a single human being is violence against all.”

Bishop Williamson, in order to claim admission to episcopal functions in the church, must distance himself in absolutely unequivocal and public fashion from his positions regarding the Shoah, which were not known by the Holy Father when the excommunication was lifted. >>

and here is link for that news

http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=93538

Dear George and mjpb,

Thanks to both of you for providing me with this
added information.

I must confess that the action of the Vatican has
restored my faith in the Church.

Grace and Peace,

Foxy,

Thanks.

George,

"I am not going to speculate whether this was on purpose - as some have suggested - to keep him isolated (because some dislike him for being too traditionalist, others for being too open minded, e.g. towards Jews but also Muslims), or simply a PR bungle. Besides, I got my ideas about this from John L. Allen (http://ncrcafe.org/node/2382) who is certainly more knowledgeable in matters relating to Vatican."

It sure makes an interesting conspiracy theory (and I don't mean anything pejorative by the term 'conspiracy theory'). In one hit he could be undermined in anything (including anything promoting tradition) by undermining him personally and contemporaneously demolish his rapport with Jews. In the context of bringing some traditional Catholicish people toward the fold the discouragement of promoting tradition would be quite accentuated. However I lean toward the typical characteristic of the Vatican as having news move slowly as my preferred culprit. Some day that might change but old habits die slowly.

Certainly it wasn't a well-handled situation. Of course, these things can slip through the most competent of fingers, but still - the Catholic Church is on show at all times and has many, many people who jump at any opportunity to criticise it.

I am glad that the Pope is calling for a retraction of the statement, but what effect will the retraction have (if it ever occurs)? The Bishop will still believe what he believed before - it's basically an instruction for the man to lie. Perhaps some sort of re-education is in order. Not in the communist sense, but by sending the man on a fact-finding mission. Send him to the death camps. Send him to meet with some Holocaust survivors. In the interview, he stated that the evidence he had seen had not supported the idea that gas chambers existed. If this is the case, then maybe he just needs to see some more evidence.

Of course, there are many more Holocaust deniers in the Catholic Church, and if he is not to be given a post as a Bishop, then maybe he shouldn't be treated any differently. If he was not given a post, then he would probably have every right to refuse such an excursion. But if he truly wants to be part of the Church, and this is what the Church demands of him, then how could he refuse?