Leaders of Italy's Roman Catholic Church yesterday asked for forgiveness from Jews for the anti-Semitism that existed in the country before and during the second World War.
The apology came in a document released by the Italian Bishops' Conference after being handed to Jewish religious and community leaders in Italy on March 16th - the same day the Vatican published an unprecedented declaration on the church's actions during the Holocaust.
Jewish groups criticised the Vatican document for not sufficiently acknowledging its perceived complacency over persecution of Jews at the time.
Speaking directly to Jews and referring to the Holocaust - without explicitly naming it - yesterday's letter said Italy's ecclesiastical community "had been unable to display sufficient force to denounce and to strongly oppose, at the required moment, the injustice which targeted you."
Even if some priests did defend Jews, "it was not enough to stop the catastrophe," the document said. Signed by Giuseppe Chiaretti, president of the conference's secretariat for ecumenism and dialogue, it was handed to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Mr Elio Toaff, and the president of Italy's Jewish community, Mr Tullio Zevi.
The declaration was a "process of purification of memory for which we ask trust and goodwill, as well as God's forgiveness," it said.