THE TELEGRAPH: The Pope sought to end years of tension between Catholics and Jews when he called for the victims of the Holocaust never to be forgotten.
Speaking at Yad Vashem, the memorial to the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis which crowns wooded hills in west Jerusalem, he specifically called for their suffering never to be denied.
But his remarks failed to satisfy the chairman of Yad Vashem. Rabbi Israel Meir Lau said there was "something missing'' in the Pope's remarks and complained the pontiff had not expressed an apology or even regret.
Speaking on the first day of his visit to Israel, Benedict said: "May the names of these victims never perish. May their suffering never be denied, belittled or forgotten.
"As we stand here in silence, their cry still echoes in our hearts. It is a cry raised against every act of injustice and violence."
His remarks were a clear attempt to draw a line under diplomatic tensions between the Vatican and Israel caused by his decision to lift the excommunication of a breakaway British bishop who has denied key aspects of the Holocaust. >>> By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem | Monday, May 11, 2009
