Pope Admits Mistakes Dealing With Holocaust-Denying Bishop
Pope Benedict XVI has acknowledged Vatican mistakes over a Holocaust-denying bishop and his efforts to reach out to ultraconservatives, saying in a highly unusual critical review that he was saddened that even Catholics attacked him with open hostility.
The pope made a personal analysis of the case in a letter to the world's Catholic bishops made public by the Vatican on Thursday, seeking to end one of the most serious crises of his nearly four-year papacy.
He said failure to detect the bishop's background by simply consulting the Internet was an "unforeseen mishap" that caused tensions between Christians and Jews and raised questions about his own interest in friendship between the two religions.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the letter — released in six languages — was "really unusual and deserving of maximum attention."
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The pope made a personal analysis of the case in a letter to the world's Catholic bishops made public by the Vatican on Thursday, seeking to end one of the most serious crises of his nearly four-year papacy.
He said failure to detect the bishop's background by simply consulting the Internet was an "unforeseen mishap" that caused tensions between Christians and Jews and raised questions about his own interest in friendship between the two religions.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the letter — released in six languages — was "really unusual and deserving of maximum attention."