VATICAN CITY -- A Catholic bishop who denied the Holocaust is facing expulsion from his traditionalist order for hiring a lawyer linked to the neo-Nazi movement.

The Society of St. Pius X said it ordered Bishop Richard Williamson to fire the lawyer, who was to represent him in an appeal next week of a German incitement conviction for saying in a TV interview that he didn't believe Jews were gassed during World War II.

The interview aired the same day Pope Benedict XVI lifted Williamson's excommunication, unleashing a torrent of criticism and threatening the Vatican's relations with Jews.

The Regensburg, Germany court where Williamson is appealing his conviction told the DAPD news agency that he would be represented by Wolfram Nahrath, who has defended neo-Nazis in the past....