Word: vaticans
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...cover everything from the Crusades and the Inquisition to its attitude toward Christians of other denominations. Not that each of these sins and infractions will receive detailed treatment: "Given the number of sins committed in the course of 20 centuries, [reference to them] must necessarily be rather summary," explained Vatican official Bishop Piero Marini...
...Above and beyond giving a mea culpa, John Paul II will attempt to frame what the church means by a mea culpa," says TIME religion correspondent David Van Biema. "His belief that the church strengthens itself through a frank acknowledgment of past sins is a remarkable thing. But the Vatican is also being careful to make clear that this isn't simply a spectacular act of self-flagellation before hostile outsiders; it's about the church's need to express regret and ask for God's pardon rather than to satisfy outsiders...
...Nonetheless, outsiders look set to take issue, particularly representatives of the Jewish community who have for decades pressed the Vatican to acknowledge its failures to adequately respond to - and, some would argue, even its complicity in creating the climate for - the Holocaust. "The Jewish Anti-Defamation League is unhappy with what's contained in 'Memory and Reconciliation,' because they believe it still fails to admit the church's corporate responsibility for any complicity in the Holocaust," says Van Biema. "It lays the blame on flawed humans - although the document uses the term 'generations' to imply this wasn't simply...
...phrasing of the church's apology, however, has been the subject of fierce debate inside the Catholic hierarchy. "Even when they released the 'Memory and Reconciliation' document, the Vatican made clear that there were different camps inside the church, some of whom felt the church was going too far in its apology and others who believe it hadn't gone far enough," says Van Biema. The central point of contention is whether responsibility for sins rests with the church itself, or simply with its errant children. "Although this pope has gone a lot further than any in history toward acknowledging...
...wonder Japan was filled with rumors last week that after going public with his allegations, Itai was in hiding, fearing that gangsters with sumo ties had put out a contract on his life. "I'm not afraid! I'm not hiding!" Itai protested. The Japan Sumo Association, Vatican-like in its secrecy, and with a hammerlock hold on the sport, has always denied charges of match fixing. (It refused interview requests from TIME last week.) But Itai isn't going down lightly. He has produced tapes he surreptitiously made during sumo meetings in 1989 and 1991. They suggest that, contrary...