Rome - Pope John Paul II yesterday acknowledged that many Christians had not lived by the principles of their faith during the Holocaust, Paddy Agnew reports. The Pope made his remarks to a Vatican symposium entitled "Roots of anti-Semitism in the Christian community". It was attended by Catholic theologians and representatives of Protestant and Christian Orthodox churches.
Condemning anti-Semitism, the Pope said: "Anti-Semitism is totally unjustified and absolutely condemnable . . . In the Christian world - I do not mean on the part of the Church as such - wrong and unjust interpretations of the New Testament relating to the Jewish people and their presumed guilt circulated for too long, engendering sentiments of hostility towards those people."
Earlier, during a meeting with north African bishops, the Pope had offered prayers for what he called the unacceptable violence that has swept Algeria.
The Pope also called for the lifting of the UN air embargo on Libya.
