His Grace Archbishop Carl Maria Vigano, on January 31st offered a Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of His Lordship Bishop Richard Williamson, who fell asleep in the Lord this past Wednesday, January 29th.
The following is from the Archbishop's sermon:
A dear Friend, a venerated brother in the Episcopate, a comrade in battle has concluded his earthly pilgrimage and has passed into eternity. And in these hours of mourning, relieved only by the eyes of Faith, we cannot but mourn his passing, remember his strenuous fight, his fidelity, his work in the service of Holy Mother Church and resort to prayer in suffrage for his soul.
My fraternal friendship with Msgr. Williamson is relatively recent. It began when I found myself clashing with the Roman Authorities, after having matured the awareness of the conciliar revolution and its devastating effects, an awareness which His Excellency had reached well before me. From our meetings I retain the memory of his ability to reconcile unconditional adherence to the Catholic Truth with a breath of true Charity and a tireless strength in preaching the Word opportune importune . I remember his humble and affable manner. As a true British gentleman, he had a keen sense of humor . His vast culture did not prevent him from behaving in a simple and modest manner, even in the poverty of his clothing. I remember well the worn cassock he habitually wore and his reluctance to artificial pleasantries.
Converted from Anglicanism and educated in the traditional Faith at the school of a great Archbishop, Monsignor Marcel Lefebvre, he was able to remain faithful to him even in the face of the concessions of his brothers, when human convenience and diplomatic calculations prevailed over the legacy of the French Archbishop. Monsignor Williamson was disobedient to an apostate Rome; disobedient to a weakened conservatism that had forgotten the true reasons for its existence; disobedient to a world incapable of hearing the truth spoken to its face. This apparent disobedience of his – which binds him inextricably to the figure of Monsignor Lefebvre, the “rebel bishop” who dared to challenge the modernism of Paul VI and John Paul II – was the reason why in 2012 he was abandoned and expelled from the Society of Saint Pius X to which he belonged, due to his unavailability to reach an agreement with conciliar Rome and the pseudo-conservatism of Benedict XVI.
From then on, Msgr. Williamson committed himself to building a “Catholic resistance” that could effectively counteract, on the one hand, the apostasy of the Roman authorities, and on the other, the compromises and concessions of the Society of Saint Pius X, whose Superiors were increasingly occupied with the search for canonical normalization. Msgr. Williamson was a free man, especially in not conforming to political correctness , and he was never concerned with the image that the press gave of him. In his lucid geopolitical vision, he anticipated many ideas that are now supported by facts, starting with the role of Zionism in the attack on Christian society. He lived through trials and humiliations without fuss, maintaining serenity of mind and in everything seeking only the glory of God and his own assimilation to Christ the Priest.
The full sermon may be read here.
Please do not forget to pray for Bishop Williamson's soul
