VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI said yesterday any minimisation of the Holocaust was unacceptable, especially for a priest, as he met with Jewish leaders in hopes of ending the rancor over a bishop who denied 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis.
The German-born Benedict also confirmed that he planned to visit Israel in May, in what would be the second official visit by a pope.The Vatican scheduled the pope’s audience with about 60 American Jewish leaders yesterday after Benedict lifted the excommunication of a traditionalist bishop who denied the Holocaust, sparking outrage among Jews and Catholics alike. Issuing his strongest condemnation of Holocaust denial yet, Benedict affirmed the Catholic Church was ‘profoundly and irrevocably committed to reject all anti-Semitism.’Jewish leaders applauded his comments, saying the crisis that had been sparked by Bishop Richard Williamson’s comments was over. – Nampa-AP
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