2010-04-05 14:20:06

Papal preacher clarifies his reference to Holocaust


(April 5, 2010) The preacher of Pope Benedict XVI Benedict has expressed regret if Jewish sensibilities were offended by his Good Friday sermon delivered in the presence of the Pontiff. During the liturgy of the Lord’s Passion, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, whose is the official preacher of the Pontifical Household, read a passage from a letter he had received from a Jewish friend, which stated that he saw in recent media attacks of the Pope over the handling of priestly child sex abuse scandal in the Church as something reminiscent of the “more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism,” that culminated in the Holocaust. Afterward, some press reports of Father Cantalamessa’s remarks stirred up fierce criticism from the Jewish world over the comparison. In response to the criticism Father Cantalamessa said: “If, against any intention of mine, I offended the sensibility of Jews and the victims of pedophilia, I sincerely regret it and ask forgiveness, reaffirming my solidarity with both.” Father Cantalamessa further clarified that neither the Pope nor any one else had previously heard or ask to check the text of his sermon prior to its delivery. The Capuchin Friar explained to the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera” that he inserted the letter from his Jewish friend only because it seemed to him a witness of solidarity with the Pope so harshly attacked in recent weeks. Later on Good Friday, the director of the Vatican press office, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, clarified that “it is not the line of the Holy See to compare the attacks on the Pope over the pedophilia scandal to anti-Semitism.” “Father Cantalamessa’s intention,” the Jesuit added, “was merely to disclose the solidarity with the Pope that a Jew has expressed in light of the particular experience of suffering that his people have had. But it was a citation that could have given rise to misunderstandings.”







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