Pope To Visit Israel In May To Ease Catholic-Jewish Tensions

Haaretz reported last week that Pope Benedict XVI will visit Israel and the Palestinian Territories in May. The visit is designed to reduce some of the tension of recent weeks over the timing by the Vatican in moving toward the canonization of Pope Pius XII. Many Jews say that Pius XII failed to protest the murder of Jews during the Holocaust and did not intervene when Jews were deported from Rome to Auschwitz. Pope Benedict and many other Catholics contend that Pius did help save many Jews during World War II. Benedict is considering a request to delay the canonization process until all the Holocaust-related documents in the Vatican archives are released-- probably in about 7 years. Some conservatives in the Vatican however want the canonization process sped up.