Pope Benedict XVI will not visit Israel's Holocaust museum when he makes his first trip to the region as pope in May, though he will visit a memorial that is part of the site, his ambassador to Israel said Tuesday.
He will also become the first pontiff to visit the Dome of the Rock, one of the holiest sites in Islam, said the envoy, papal nuncio Antonio Franco.
...the Yad Vashem complex in Jerusalem...includes controversial wording describing the role of Pope Pius XII during World War II, which is why Pope Benedict balked, an Israeli official said.
So,
a) if the Pope doesn't like the wording of an exhibit, does that mean that no Jew should show up at his Vatican office because some Catholic catechism may be offensive to Jews? If so, why did these Rabbis show up this week?
b) the Dome of the Rock, not being a mosque, is, I presume, an okay location although Muslims consider the entire walled-in compound a holy site. But he'll also be visiting the most holiest Jewish site and that should be stressed, even if we don;t have our Temple there. Yet.
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I wonder if the Pope knows the inscription inside the Dome of the Rock (or if anyone will translate it from Classical Arabic for him). Here's what I found:
"O you People of the Book, overstep not bounds in your religion, and of God speak only the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God, and his Word which he conveyed unto Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from him. Believe therefore in God and his apostles, and say not Three. It will be better for you. God is only one God. Far be it from his glory that he should have a son."
Hummm...
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