Farewell to a ‘turbulent priest’: Bishop Richard Williamson's funeral and burial
The Pontifical Requiem Mass for the late Bishop Williamson drew faithful from around the world.
The Pontifical Requiem Mass for the late Bishop Williamson drew faithful from around the world.
26th February 2025: Bishop Richard Nelson Williamson was laid to rest following a two and a half hour Pontifical Requiem Mass in Canterbury, offered by Bishop Paul Morgan.
Although funerals are naturally mournful, we have very heartening news to share at the end of this article—though we are obliged to be somewhat obscure about it.
RIP Bishop Richard Williamson (Obituary)
+Viganò's Eulogy for +Williamson—and other responses
Farewell to a ‘turbulent priest’: Bishop Richard Williamson's funeral and burial
Five debts owed to Bishop Richard Williamson (Final Farewell)
Vigil and other images
On the previous evening there was a vigil around Williamson’s open coffin.
A friend of Fr Girouard provided the following images of this vigil:
The missalette and memorial cards are below (from Séminaire Saint Louis Marie)
The Latin memorial card above seems intended to recall that of the recently deceased Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais. In his obituary, Cristian Lugli recalled that Bishop Williamson kept this memento of Tissier de Mallerais in his breviary:
I remember how, inside his breviary, he kept a memento of his brother in the priesthood and episcopate, Monsignor Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, who had passed away very recently. He looked at that photo, with shining eyes and a few sighs: “He was truly a good bishop, I pray so much for him”. So much emotion, so much charity, beyond all the positions that remain, in fact, something very earthly.
Who was present
Over 200 mourners attended the funeral itself.
In addition to Bishop Paul Morgan, Bishops Thomas Aquinas, Giacomo Ballini and Michał Stobnicki were also in attendance. We are told that Bishop Gerardo Zendejas was also there.
Fr François Chazal and many priests and religious were also present, representing a range of affiliations and views. This was also the case amongst the faithful.
There were also many of the young men previously discussed in the congregation, as well as families and familiar faces from all around the world.
Members of the Williamson family sat to the side of the sanctuary, including his Lordship’s older brother Harry and his nephews (two of whom assisted with carrying the coffin out of the Church).
Eulogy: Combat, Canterbury and Conversion
Following the Mass, Bishop Morgan delivered a sermon and eulogy, and read a letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.
He discussed the providential nature of Bishop Williamson’s death—in his own country rather than abroad, having his stroke at home rather than in an airport, receiving Extreme Unction promptly, being surrounded by friends and family, and departing peacefully.
In spite of this peace, Morgan emphasised that “life is a combat”—for our salvation, as well as against the World, the Flesh and the Devil, and the errors of the modern crisis in the Church.
Bishop Morgan addressed a criticism made very soon after Williamson’s death, by a certain German priest. This regrettable and ill-timed newsletter accused the late bishop of the following:
He had difficulty reconciling grace and nature. On the one hand, he was very willing to give credence to messages, apparitions and other supernatural phenomena; on the other hand, he tended towards a certain naturalism, giving politics and contemporary phenomena an excessive amount of space in his sermons and lectures.
Bishop Morgan rejected such an accusation and explained why it was utterly without worth—whilst being too tactful to name the priest in question.
He then reflected on the location of the ceremony and the day’s liturgical feast, drawing a connection between St Aethelberht’s role in England’s conversion.
When St Augustine of Canterbury and his collaborators arrived in Canterbury, having been sent by Pope Gregory the Great, King Aethelberht received the missionaries kindly.
Aethelberht was himself a pagan, but was married to a Frankish Christian princess. Morgan did not neglect to remind the congregation that one of Williamson’s favourite themes was the importance and power of good wives.
In a short space of time, King Aethelberht and his kingdom were baptised. In due course, Augustine was made Archbishop of Canterbury in the Kingdom of Kent. Morgan drew parallels between these crucial events in the conversion of our nation, and Williamson’s work as an Apostle for the Catholic Church in our day.
(We have written more about this important episode in the conversion of the English people here.)
Bishop Morgan proceeded from St Augustine of Canterbury to St Thomas Becket of Canterbury, discussing his martyrdom for the liberty and independence of the Church, as well as the lamentable fact that Bishop Williamson’s obsequies were taking place in a hall, rather than in a cathedral. Nonetheless Morgan thanked those who had worked to make the hall a dignified setting for the funeral.
This theme of St Thomas’ struggle and witness was echoed in a letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, which Bishop Morgan then read aloud. Viganò paid tribute to the late bishop, comparing what he called the “white martyrdom” of his latter years with Becket’s “red martyrdom.”
(We have also written about St Thomas Becket and the betrayal of his legacy in the post-conciliar era—as well as appearing The Two Cities Podcast to dicuss the same topic.)
It is our understanding that Bishop Morgan will be remaining in England, and taking over operations from the late Bishop Williamson.
‘Five Absolutions’ and final eulogy
An unusual ceremony followed, known as the “Quinque Absolutiones” or “Five Absolutions.” The Catholic Encyclopaedia describes this ceremony as follows:
At the burial of bishops, cardinals, sovereigns, etc., not one but five absolutions are pronounced according to the forms provided in the “Pontificale Romanum”. These are spoken by five bishops or other “prelates”, each absolution being preceded by a separate responsory.1
These prayers and responsories are at the end of this article.2
Following the Absolutions and the religious parts of the funeral, Mr Harry Williamson delivered a eulogy about “Richard the boy, Richard the brother, Richard the man.” He too made references to St Thomas of Canterbury—particularly the fact that King Henry II called him “that turbulent priest.”
Mr Williamson added—provoking laughter amongst the mourners—that it was obvious “where he was going” with that reference.
He also talked about the distance between him and his late brother, and how little he had known about life and work until recently.
Mr Williamson thanked the late bishop’s secretary and collaborators for all their work with his brother, and especially for organising the funeral itself.
The latter was certainly a feat indeed.
The burial—and the heartening news
Following this, Bishop Williamson’s coffin was taken on its final journey, for him to be buried privately with a very small number of mourners.
This did not include us. While it was happening, the rest of the congregation were treated to a generous buffet and an opportunity to catch up with friends, and to meet in person those previously known only online.
But we promised some good news at the beginning of this article. Here it is.
Many said, following Bishop Williamson’s death, that the proper place for his burial was in the Seminary of Ecône, alongside Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Tissier de Mallerais. Despite any bad blood and acrimony in life, the idea of Williamson being laid to rest anywhere else than beside Lefebvre seemed most unfittin—even if this was completely unrealistic.
In his sermon, Bishop Morgan referred to a French saying, which held that funerals are a time for “trêves” or ceasefires.
However, even if this was so, the burial location was not to be.
So where would Williamson's mortal remains go? Would he be buried in a common, municipal cemetery—waiting for his grave to be desecrated?
By accident, this writer found out that this was not to be either.
While we cannot disclose the actual location of this final resting place, we can say that Bishop Williamson wanted to be buried there, and that it has turned out (in our opinion) to be even better than Ecône, and even more fitting than beside Lefebvre.
This writer could barely believe it when he heard it.
Requiescat in Pace.
For our Final Farewell to Bishop Richard Williamson, see below:
Read next:
Obligatory Inclusion: Against Mentevacantism—Bishop Donald Sanborn
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Here are the prayers and responsories of the Five Absolutions:
Enter thou not into Judgement with thy servant, O Lord, for none shall be justified in thy sight unless by thee the remission of all sins be granted unto him. Wherefore we beseech thee, let not thy judicial sentence press upon him whom the true supplication of Christian faith commendeth unto thee; but by the succour of thy grace may he merit to escape the Judgement of vengeance, he who, whilst he lived, was marked with the seal of the Holy Trinity. Thou who livest and reignest for ever and ever. R. Amen.
Following this prayer by the celebrating bishop, the five absolutions begin.
First Responsory: Help him, ye saints of God; come forth to meet him, ye angels of the lord: Receiving his soul, presenting it in the sight of the Most High.
V. May Christ, who called thee, receive thee, and may the angels lead thee into the bosom of Abraham.
Then follows the usual absolution form of the “Pater noster,” followed by incensing of the coffin and sprinkling with the holy water, and then the conclusion of the prayer, some responses and then the oration.
First Prayer: O God, unto whom all do live, and by whom our bodies perish not in dying, but are changed for the better: we humbly beseech thee that thou bid the soul of thy servant Richard be received by the hands of thy holy Angels, to be led into the bosom of thy friend Abraham the Patriarch, and to be raised up again on the great day of the last Judgement; and whatsoever vices he contracted through the devil’s deceit, do thou, in thy pity and mercy, wash away by granting pardon. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
The same form follows for the next absolutions:
Second Responsory: Thou who didst raise Lazarus from the tomb when it was foul, grant them, O Lord, rest and a place of pardon.
V. Thou who shalt come to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire.Second Prayer: Let us pray. Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, this mercy unto thy servant Richard, now departed, that he may not receive in punishments the due of his deeds, for he clung unto thy will in his prayers; so that, even as true faith here did join him to the company of the faithful, so may thy compassion there unite him unto the choirs of Angels. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
Third Responsory: O Lord, when thou comest to judge the earth, whither shall I flee from the face of thy wrath? For I have sinned exceedingly in my life.
V. I tremble at my transgressions, and blush before thee: when thou comest to judge, condemn me not.Third Prayer: Let us pray. Incline thine ear, O Lord, unto our prayers, whereby we humbly implore thy mercy, that thou wouldst place the soul of thy servant Richard., whom thou hast bidden depart from this world, in the realm of peace and light, and command that he be numbered among thy Saints. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
Fourth Responsory: Remember not my sins, O Lord, when thou comest to judge the world by fire.
V. Direct my way in thy sight, O Lord my God.Fourth Prayer: Let us pray. Absolve, we beseech thee, O Lord, the soul of thy servant Richard from every bond of sin, so that, raised up in the glory of the resurrection, he may breathe again among thy Saints and Elect. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
Fifth Responsory: Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death, on that fearful day: when the heavens and the earth shall be shaken, when thou comest to judge the world by fire.
V. Trembling have I become, and I do fear, when the trial approacheth and thy wrath draweth nigh.
V. That day shall be a day of wrath, of calamity and misery, a day most great and exceeding bitter.Fifth Prayer: Let us pray. Absolve, we beseech thee, O Lord, the soul of thy servant N., that, being dead to the world, he may live unto thee; and whatsoever, through human frailty, he hath committed in his mortal life, do thou blot it out by thy most merciful pardon. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
Translated from the Latin here, p 543 onwards.
No, no no. That is too tempting to leave there. What is better than the Econe? As someone who literally encountered the Bishops 2 days before his death and delved into the treasure trove of lectures I am shocked that churchman such as him that echo the past still walk the earth. What hope he gives. So…will we ever be told where he is lain to rest?
Yes, Fr. Schmidberger (ie., the German priest referenced above) simply couldn’t let the opportunity to further ingratiate himself and the SSPX to apostate Rome, and hence his parting shot.