Word: vashem
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Welcomed at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial early Monday evening, Benedict spoke powerfully of the victims, and called on humanity never to forget the attempt to exterminate the Jews as a way "to ensure that hatred will never reign in the hearts of men again." But, in a highly unusual criticism of an honored guest's remarks, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, chairman of the Yad Vashem council, told Israeli television that though the speech was moving, "Something was missing. There was no mention of the Germans or the Nazis who participated in the butchery, nor a word of regret." Unlike...
...humble and quiet presence of the aging pontiff at Yad Vashem was itself an attempt to improve those relations. The ties had frayed earlier this year after Benedict lifted the excommunication of four ultra-traditionalist Bishops, including one who denies the widely accepted facts about what happened in Nazi Germany. The Pope, who has since said that the Bishop has no standing in the Church so long as he doesn't change his stance on the events of World War II, denounced any who deny the events of the Holocaust...
...issue of the Holocaust had already been a sticking point during negotiations for a possible papal visit. Church officials have demanded that Israel remove a photograph caption at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial that criticizes Pope Pius XII's conduct during World War II. Jewish leaders and some historians argue that Pius failed to use his moral power to denounce the atrocities. Catholic leaders are pushing for Pius to be made a saint of the church, saying he was one of the 20th century's great Popes and that he did what was possible during the Nazi occupation. Benedict...
...thing is that whenever a head of state begins a visit to Israel, he doesn't go to a university or to the high-tech sector or the beautiful cultural places we have in Israel; first you should get molded into the Israeli reality at [the Holocaust memorial] Yad Vashem. And I do not think that Yad Vashem should be the showcase or the gateway through which everybody should first encounter Israel. Part of the program, yes; but the starting point? This is not the way to baptize people into an encounter with Judaism...
...argue that the purpose of the Yad Vashem visit is to silence criticism...