Pope trip to reach out to other faiths
Argument with Israel over Benedict's failure to mention country in list of places hit by terrorism has cast cloud over one of most poignant moments planned for the trip - visit to synagogue wrecked in 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom and rebuilt in 1950s
VATICAN CITY - In one of his first official acts, Pope Benedict XVI invited Rome's chief rabbi to his installation ceremony and issued special greetings to Jews. He also assured Muslims the Roman Catholic Church wants to build "bridges of friendship."
Those early words made clear there would be no change from the outreach policies of his predecessor, John Paul II. Then a string of summer terror bombings undermined those efforts.
Benedict's pilgrimage to Germany this week in his first foreign trip as pope holds a key test of interfaith relations: He is to have his first face-to-face meetings with Muslim and Jewish groups since attacks in Britain, Egypt, Israel, Turkey and Iraq.
An argument with Israel over Benedict's failure to mention the country in a list of places hit by terrorism this summer has cast a cloud over one of the most poignant moments planned for the trip - his visit to a synagogue wrecked in the 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom and rebuilt in the 1950s.
He plans to speak Friday at the synagogue and the following day will address Muslim leaders at the Cologne archdiocese headquarters.
Critical over terror
"It will be interesting to see what kind of atmosphere will surround this visit" to the synagogue and to see "if it will dissipate the uncertainties caused by the dispute," said Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni.
Israel sharply criticized Benedict last month after he deplored recent terrorist attacks but did not mention a suicide bombing that killed five Israelis.
The Israeli government summoned the Vatican envoy and charged the pope "deliberately failed" to condemn terrorist attacks on Israel. Tensions worsened with a harshly worded Vatican statement chastising Israel for trying to give the pope lessons on what to say.
Benedict has been cautious about ascribing motives in terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, with the Italian media reporting he overruled aides and refused to call the London train bombings "anti-Christian." He used the less inflammatory "barbaric acts against humanity."
The pope is seeking to keep up interfaith momentum sparked by John Paul II, who visited Rome's central synagogue in 1986 and a mosque in Damascus, Syria, in 2001 - both papal firsts.
Benedict's spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said the pope places great importance on the Cologne meetings, calling them a "very strong signal" of his desire for dialogue.
Germany has a Muslim population of more than 3 million people, many of them Turks, but the papal visit appears to have stirred little advance publicity in the community.
Important visit
Many Jewish leaders have sought to dampen the rhetoric over the terrorism issue to make the synagogue visit a success.
"We have to make clear that because Israel takes a position, that is not necessarily the position of all Jews," Rabbi Jack Bemporad, an American who has worked closely with the Vatican, told The Associated Press. "I think it has already been put to a rest. The Vatican is not going to press it. The best thing is to let it drop."
Both he and Rome's chief rabbi stressed the importance of the visit for Jews in Germany. Benedict served in the Hitler Youth organization and later deserted from the German army in the waning days of the war.
"The pope has consistently been anti-Nazi. He believed that Hitler not only would destroy the Jews but also the Germany that he knew and loved," Bemporad said.
