POPE'S BOOK SAYS JEWISH PEOPLE WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR JESUS'S CRUCIFIXION

What's the pope going to tell us next?? that the Catholics didn't invent Christmas, or kill thousands for not following their ways!!!!!??
Why is it that today no Israeli's or Jews accept Christ as the Messiah??? same reason they didn't 2000yrs ago; come on popey, give us a break!!!!

Pope's book says Jewish people were not responsible for Jesus' crucifixion

March 2, 2011
Pope Benedict XVI says only a few temple leaders and supporters were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI has made a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus, tackling one of the most controversial issues in Christianity in a new book.

In "Jesus of Nazareth-Part II" excerpts released Wednesday, Benedict explains biblically and theologically why there is no basis in Scripture for the argument that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for Jesus' death.

Interpretations to the contrary were used for centuries to justify the persecution of Jews.

Jewish scholars and leaders said Wednesday that the argument laid out by the German-born pontiff is a landmark statement that will help fight anti-Semitism today.

"Holocaust survivors know only too well how the centuries-long charge of 'Christ killer' against the Jews created a poisonous climate of hate," said Elan Steinberg of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants.

The pope's book, he said, not only confirms current church teaching that refutes the charge, "but seals it for a new generation of Catholics."

The Catholic Church issued its most authoritative teaching on the issue in its 1965 Second Vatican Council document "Nostra Aetate." It revolutionized the church's relations with Jews by saying Jesus' death could not be attributed to Jews as a whole at the time or today.

Benedict comes to the same conclusion, but he explains how with a thorough analysis that leaves little doubt that he deeply and personally believes only a few temple leaders and a small group of supporters were primarily responsible for Jesus' crucifixion.

The book is the second installment to Benedict's 2007 "Jesus of Nazareth," his first book as pope.

That book offered a very personal meditation on the early years of Jesus' life. This second volume, set to be released March 10, concerns the final part of Jesus' life, his death and resurrection.

Benedict, who was forced to join the Hitler Youth as a child in Nazi Germany, made improving relations with Jews a priority in his papacy. But he has drawn the ire of Jewish groups, too, most notably in 2009, when he lifted the excommunication of a bishop who had denied the extent of the Holocaust.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110303/NEWS07/103030560/Pope-s-book-says-Jewish-people-were-not-responsible-Jesus-crucifixion