Pope's apology to Jews ranks as most significant for church
Some Jewish leaders hoped papal amends would be more specific

By Detroit News wire services

Monday. April 11, 2005

VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul's plea for God's forgiveness for the Catholic Church's past sins -- including its treatment of Jews, heretics and women -- is one of the most significant acts of his papacy.

It was the first time in the history of the Church that one of its leaders has sought such a sweeping pardon for past sins.

"For the role that each one of us has had, with his behavior, in these evils, contributing to a disfigurement of the face of the Church, we humbly ask forgiveness," the Pope said.

His plea for forgiveness was a personal landmark for a frail, ailing pope, who vowed to cleanse and reinvigorate Catholicism for its third millennium.

The church burned heretics at the stake during the Inquisition. Armies of the faithful slaughtered Muslims during the Crusades. During the Holocaust, some Catholics stood silent in the face of Nazi genocide. Many Jewish groups allege Pope Pius XII turned a blind eye to the Nazi extermination of 6 million Jews in World War II.

There was no specific reference in the pope's homily or in the general prayers read by him and by top Vatican cardinals to Pope Pius or to the Holocaust.

But in his prayer, the pope did say:

"We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of Yours (the Jews) to suffer, and asking Your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant."

Some ranking Jewish leaders in Israel and the U.S. had hoped for more.

In Tel Aviv, Israel's chief rabbi said he was "a little bit disappointed" the pope did not go further in addressing the tortures inflicted on Jews.

Rabbi Israel Meir Lau said he hopes the pope will make amends with a more specific apology during an historic Holy Land pilgrimage this month that will include a visit to Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

Still, Lau said of the pope's action Sunday "itself is an accomplishment.

"For the first time a pope comes and says 'I confess.' He is confessing about crimes of very many members of the Church who made sins against the Jewish people."

In Los Angeles, Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the pope's public plea for forgiveness was "remarkable."

"I think it's a bold and important step, but it would have been much more significant if he had made a mention of the Holocaust," Hier said.

"Perhaps, the Holocaust was not mentioned to steer clear of the actions of the Church led by Pope Pius XII. ... That might have been the motivation. But still, it is quite remarkable to have a pope say this," Hier said.

In a major document in 1998, the Vatican apologized for Catholics who failed to help Jews against Nazi persecution and acknowledged centuries of preaching of contempt for Jews.

Other requests for forgiveness read during Sunday's service included pardon for the Church's sins against women and the unity of the human race, sins against the fundamental rights of the person, sins against respect for cultures and religion and sins against Christian unity.