Israel and the Vatican traded sharp words on Monday over a Sunday sermon in which the new pope, Benedict XVI, prayed that God would stop the "murderous hand" of terrorists who had struck in "Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Great Britain."
Israel summoned the Vatican ambassador in Jerusalem to explain why Pope Benedict had failed to mention attacks against Jews. An Israeli foreign ministry statement charged that the Pope, in a brief sermon delivered from his vacation retreat in the Italian Alps, had "deliberately" left out a reference to a July 12 suicide bombing in Netanya that killed five people.
"We expected that the new pope, who on taking office emphasized the importance he places on relations between the Church and the Jewish people, would behave differently," the Israeli statement read.
The Pope's spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, released a terse defense noting that Benedict had referred in his sermon to attacks in "recent days."
"It's surprising that one would have wanted to take the opportunity to distort the intentions of the Holy Father," he said in a statement. "Obviously, the other week's grave attack in Netanya referred to by Israel falls under the general and unreserved condemnation of terrorism."
A Vatican spokesman could not be reached for further comment.
After the initial Israeli statement, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom appeared to retreat somewhat, saying that he hoped the omission was "a mistake and not a deliberate omission," the Associated Press reported.
The exchange was unexpectedly strong given the prominence that Benedict has given to relations with Jews since he was elected pope in April, after the death of John Paul II, who was the first modern pope to visit a synagogue.
He mentioned Judaism, alone among the world's other major religions, when he was formally installed as Pope. In June, he met with top Jewish leaders, who said his efforts to reach out to Jews had softened many worries among Jews about a German pope.
Next month, Benedict is to travel to Cologne, Germany, where he is scheduled to visit a synagogue that was rebuilt after being destroyed in the Holocaust. He is also scheduled to meet with Muslim leaders in Germany, which has a large Turkish population.
SUPPORT: Elon Musk’s backing for the far-right AfD is also an implicit rebuke of center-right Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz, who is leading polls German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a swipe at Elon Musk over his political judgement, escalating a spat between the German government and the world’s richest person. Scholz, speaking to reporters in Berlin on Friday, was asked about a post Musk made on his X platform earlier the same day asserting that only the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party “can save Germany.” “We have freedom of speech, and that also applies to multi-billionaires,” Scholz said alongside Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal. “But freedom of speech also means that you can say things that are not right and do not contain
Two US Navy pilots were shot down yesterday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the US military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of US targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one sustaining minor injuries. However, the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become over the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite US and European military coalitions patrolling the area. The US military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the
Pulled from the mud as an infant after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and reunited with his parents following an emotional court battle, the boy once known as “Baby 81” is now a 20-year-old dreaming of higher education. Jayarasa Abilash’s story symbolized that of the families torn apart by one of the worst natural calamities in modern history, but it also offered hope. More than 35,000 people in Sri Lanka were killed, with others missing. The two-month-old was washed away by the tsunami in eastern Sri Lanka and found some distance from home by rescuers. At the hospital, he was
MILITANTS TARGETED: The US said its forces had killed an IS leader in Deir Ezzor, as it increased its activities in the region following al-Assad’s overthrow Washington is scrapping a long-standing reward for the arrest of Syria’s new leader, a senior US diplomat said on Friday following “positive messages” from a first meeting that included a promise to fight terrorism. Barbara Leaf, Washington’s top diplomat for the Middle East, made the comments after her meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus — the first formal mission to Syria’s capital by US diplomats since the early days of Syria’s civil war. The lightning offensive that toppled former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 was led by the Muslim Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in al-Qaeda’s
RSS