the vatican's agenda, and this letter from the pope is only the latest part of it, is to gain control of jerusalem. by playing off the arabs and the israelis against each other, they hope to create such turmoil that the world, through the united nations, will appoint them as "guardians", in order to make between israel and the arabs. this was the reasoning behind the vatican's refusal to recognize israel for some 50 years, for example, and their continuing refusal to unequivocally condemn arab terrorism. and this has been a consistent policy of the vatican, in spite of the reigns of different popes, since the founding of the state of israel. the "peace" that the pope talks about is not peace for israel.

Israel has some fine Catholic friends and other Christian friends -- Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, etc. -- I believe. I have Catholic friends. Sadly, this pope is not amongst them. As Gary (N. Jersey) has pointed out, neither was his predecessor. Is Pope Benedict as hostile to the Jews as Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII, the pope before and during the second world war? I sincerely hope not. Time will tell. Pius XII proved to be Adolf Hitler's consummate negotiating partner. Pope Benedict has taken some unkind and unfriendly steps toward the Jews and Israel. I think it behoves our Catholic friends to understand the pope's disposition toward the Jews over the centuries. Some were friendly; many were not. The Jews and the Church have a long and bloody history leading to the Holocaust. Nazism was planted on fertile European, anti-Jewish soil, taught over the centuries by the church fathers and from the pulpit.

Dear Roman,papist. I can explain a few things to you having been a decieved member of this false religion ,having been schooled from K-12 ,.altar,choir boy,ect. Praise God His Word(Bible) set me free from this deceptive religion. You ever notice how cozy Rome is with the cult of death Islam when it comes to oposing the Jews and Israel? The Christian church was hijacked by evil men before the 3rd century and to this day is ruled by corrupt religiopus men who like skull&bones Bush have the same satanic agenda of recreating Babel. Their plans are written of in the bible and will be short lived. Israel is trapped in their web for the moment because they place their faith in powerful devious men instead of their God. But that will change as the Holy One of Israel will make Himself know to all when He destroys all those who fight against Israel.

G-D never changed it-it has always been the 7th day not the first day.men put the name saturday on the 7th day not G-D.the world with adamic type man living on the earth didnt all wake up one day and lose track of which day it was.in addition check the catholic new jerusalem bible at the begining-the catholic scholars say themselves there is no authority to not keep the sabbath G-D kept at the time of the adamic creation which day was the 7th not the 1st.

Thanks for your answer. I understand your point of view and your attitude towards the Pope but, if you don’t mind, I don’t share it. He certainly represents a very conservative branch of the Catholic Church and I don’t agree with everything he says. However, he is neither against the Jewish people nor against the Jewish faith. He shares with almost all Catholics a deep respect for the Jewish faith since we consider it the root of our faith. It of course goes without saying that the Catholic Church has a lot of Jewish blood on its hands and that Pius XII. behaviour during WW II was a shame. Nevertheless, Benedict XVI. did not restore the Missa Tridentina (the allegedly anti-Jewish liturgy). Pope John Paul II. restored it in 1988. This mess has already been practised since 1988 in various Catholic Church communities, especially in the conservative and traditional ones. Until now a priest needed a permission from his bishop to read this mess – which appeared to be a formality since hardly any bishop denied the permission. Benedict only abolished the precondition of the Episcopal permission. I personally never took part in such a mess because I don’t like the old rituals, however, as far as I know nobody really prays for the conversion of the Jews – the priests usually change this part or leave it out. On Good Friday the whole Catholic Church, in the old as well as in the modern rituals, prays for the Jews, not for their conversion. The discussion about this bloody prayer is rather theoretical since it has not been prayed for ages – and it won’t be prayed in the future. Back to the historical background: you have a lot of good reasons to have a negative attitude towards the Church but you should try to understand that we are not living in those dark times of the past centuries anymore. Remember your enemies but keep in mind that most of them died over last centuries and decades. Today’s Catholic is not your enemy, neither the Pope nor anybody else. Shalom.

Support and praise for Peres is support and praise for Peace Now and Hamas and everything that is opposed to the existence of a Jewish state. The Church is and has always been hostile, and continues to be deluded on just who the Bible and it's prophecies of Redemption refer to. If the Pope wants to do repentence he should return all items Rome stole from the Jewish People and reject his pagan beliefs.

You wrote: "The Pope is not only a religious leader but he is also a head of a state. It is common practice in the international community to congratulate a newly elected leader. What’s wrong with that? .....Will you tell George W. Bush to mind his own business if he writes a congratulation note to Peres – as he will certainly do since it is common practice?" The answer is, yes. I've been amongst the biggest critics of George W. Bush and I am a thirty six year registered Republican. George W. Bush is shameful with regard to Israel. How many thousands of Jews were expelled from their homes because of this American president? How many Jews are now homeless because of this man? Though Mr. Bush claims (in my opinion, falsely) to be a devout Christian, unlike the pope he is neither a theologian nor a religious leader. Thus the pope should be held to a far higher moral and spiritual standard. I don't expect a man of God to be an enemy of God. I expect a man of God to be a friend of God. You wrote: "The Pope expressed his hope for peace in the Middle East. What is wrong with that? " I wonder, has this pope opened his Bible? Ever? Pope expressed hope for peace in the Middle East. What planet is the pope living on? What bible does he read for heaven's sake? The Jews are, Israel is surrounded by enemies dedicated to her annihilation as the Bible proclaims. Again, with all due respect, what bible does this pope read?

American Jews LOVE Peres.....we can't stand him here becuase we know what a traitor he is.

Please rest assured that the great majority of N Am Jews have only the highest respect and affection for Shimon Peres.Those who dominate these tbs are from the small radical lunatic fringe,They are best ignored-and pitied,

Ok, if you were a Catholic and your head honcho wanted to make sure that you had access to what you consider holy sites or whatever, how would all that forgiving drivel have sounded to you? Just because Israelis have been known to say some very unflattering things about Olmert, assorted members of their Knesset, with a few rabbis thrown in for good measure, I bet they'd take exception to an outsider's of whatever diplomatic stature marching into Tel Aviv spouting the same sentiments as a matter of official policy. Sometimes, especially, when it's of no consequence one way or the other, you say things to get what you want that you may not have bothered to say, if nothing had been at stake. I think, it's called "diplomacy." Other than messing up things for Christians and whatever they hold dear over there, what would have changed, had the pope riled against Arafat and called him the disgusting piece of decrepit humanity that he was? That's what I thought of Arafat. To the Palis, he was a hero. In the end, the only thing that matters is what we all are to god, and I am not so presumptious as to do any second-guessing in that regard. But for what it's worth and if you want to, be my guest.

In spite of what Peres has promised you, the sites are ours and ours alone. Even though you have promised if we give the Temple Mount to the Vatican, with a strong EU army surrounding it, that you will allow us to build a Temple there, we will NOT give in to your blackmail demands. We believe in one God and not people who think they are God.

sorry but we must be missing something out of your german to english writing here.we have a pm that is only concerned with his paycheck and personal family and acts like he couldnt care less if the rest of us drop dead and we are surrounded by enemies determined to either murder us all or drive us into the mediteranian and we have the eu and usa ordering us over and over again to make "concessions"-ie give up more of G-Ds land to those He never intended to live here-hello-come visit sderot-you missed amona-that would have been a real education for you.talk to those that lost everything in the gaza pull out and are still waiting for compensation-olmert thinks all that money in the treasury belongs to him-not the jewish people.

You wrote: "Just because Israelis have been known to say some very unflattering things about Olmert, assorted members of their Knesset, with a few rabbis thrown in for good measure, I bet they'd take exception to an outsider's of whatever diplomatic stature marching into Tel Aviv spouting the same sentiments as a matter of official policy." I'm speaking for myself as a Jew and no one else. I believe this pope (Benedict) is ill-serving the faithful. I personally welcome Christian "outsiders" spouting all kinds of condemnations toward Mr. Olmert, Mr. Peres, Ms. Livini, etc., against George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice, etc. We've got this Christian, Marcel from Florida, inveighing daily against these corrupt Israeli and American leaders who betray their own people and their nations. Have you seen any self-respecting, intelligent Jew take Marcel to task? Go for it! Have at it!

After the Pope has cancelled his controversial Mass that the Jewish People regard as offensive,can we say Pax Vobiscum to him and in finality, Salaam Aleikum to President Peres for bringing about a stable and enduring peace that by their efforts we will see tomorrow

I am sorry if you don't understand my "German to English" writing. I did my very best. What I was trying to say in my admittedly pathetic English is that neither the Pope nor the Catholics are hostile towards Israel or the Jews. However, I am of course aware of the fact that Israel is sorrounded by neighbors who have a less then friendly attitude towards it. I hope you got my point now, otherwise I kindly ask you to let know, maybe I will give it another try then. Please be aware of the fact that God did not bless everybody with the same wisdom. I am sorry for taxing your patience with my stupidity.

The pope is either misinformed or deaf or going mad.The destroyer of Israel is asked by the pope to push peace.Maybe the pope means become the prime minister of fatah.Peres was not accepted by the nation .The corrupt olmert wangled his placement.

I wrote aleady about those two citations . You did not react to this , and again those citations . Any small nation , Israel Included , can stay so . The same as Banks , automobile manufacturers and others . There was already an economic union between belgium and Luxemburg in the 1920's , then in 1944 with Holland they created the Benelux , and later the EEC . All those small , and greater states have to unite . Now , we like it or not , we have only Arab ligue neighboors states . Lets hope that one day we can have an union with them , at least economic . This will be in favor of everyone . In the mean time , lets ameliorate our relations with Europe . Shimon Peres has a great view of international relations , not a small as you have . Pauvre petite .

Those "holy" sites are not yours , you are not Israeli , you did'nt do anything for them . They belong to the Israelis , and not to people lving in londonistan

i just wasnt sure where you were coming from with what i read.dont get me wrong either-i do not hate anyone but i certainly do not agree with the doctrines of the catholic church.as said concerning changing the day of shabbat and then besides changing the day of passover adding xmas by your bishop liberius in 360 ce and dropping all of G-Ds holytimes found in leviticus 23.your church might keep one of those days at the right time but i do not have a catholic calendar book to check see into future dates.that day would be the feast of firstfruits also called pentecost or witsunday by the protestants.and your pope when he auyhorizes a document that says the catholic church is the only true church and all the rest are cheap imitations this on top of not long ago winding up the muslims with his comments about an ancient byzantine emporer-at least he says what he thinks but since he says it what will he do if he can convince a military eu leader to do something about his ideas?-i think your pope is a very dangerous man to everyone-not just to us.

You write :"According the evangelicals two thirds of Jews are going to be killed in that war ". IF the UNSC doesn't STOP the Ayatollahs of Iran continued enrichment of uranium at this initial stage -- it will be two thirds of the WORLD population that is going to be killed in the ensuing battle. IF Iran is allowed to develop nuclear bombs, the Arab countries will also get into the nuclear bomb race. And than hell WILL break loose. Two thirds of WORLD population means : 200 million Americans, 330 million EU citizens, 95 million Russians, 830 million Chinese, 660 million Indians, 160 million Arabs, etc. etc. adding up to 4 billion of the WORLD's population. TO continue on this thought-wave : it IS the responsiblity of the international community to TAKE care of Iran's enrichment facilities -- it is NOT Israel's responsibility. So, UNSC, wake up !!!!

two-thirds of Israelis will die before the Jewish Messiah comes, this will happen whether Iran gets big nukes or not. The Moslems have had suitcase nukes for a very long time according to Russian defector, Colonel Stanislav Lunev. The Moslems have not used them because they fear the consequences. Pinpoint precision bombing of nuclear production sites in Iran like in Iraq in 1982 is an option. If Iran is defeated in a war with a he-goat (UN) with a notable horn (USA) in Daniel Ch 8, the notable horn will break. That could not be Alexander the Great because Greece was not the westernmost country and did not have airplanes. If Iran is defeated in the war described in Daniel, America will break into four parts. Out of one of those four parts will come a little horn who will cause the deaths of two-thirs of the world's population or 4 Billion people. Jerusalem will not be nuked, but there will be a slaughter on the West Bank after the little horn goes into the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and says he is god. That is when two-thirds of the world's population will die. You cannot stop that nor can I. We can only be thankful everyone on the planet will not die because the Jewish Messiah is coming to stop that.