Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Vatican Defends Pope: He is ardent anti-Nazi

Pope (center) leads a mass at the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem today, where it is believed Jesus had his final prayer before he was betrayed and arrested. Pope Benedict visited holy sites in Jerusalem at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today as part of a pilgrimage beset by Jewish disappointment over his remarks on the Holocaust (Reuters/Darren Whiteside).

RAW VIDEO: Visit to Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites, in Jerusalem (AP)

JERUSALEM – The Vatican defended Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday as a man of strong anti-Nazi credentials and a peacemaker in the face of mounting Israeli criticism and Arab anger over the Israeli occupation.
Critics faulted the German-born pope for failing to apologize in a speech at Israel's holocaust memorial for what they see as Catholic indifference during the Nazi genocide — a controversy that threatened to overshadow his high-profile pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Benedict delivered messages of peace today while visiting the holiest Muslim and Jewish sites in Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall.

"The purpose of this visit is peace"... More>>

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