Vatican official compares attacks on pope to 'Jewish suffering'

Attacks on the Catholic Church and Pope Benedict over a sexual abuse scandal are comparable to "collective violence" against Jews, the pontiff's personal preacher told a Vatican Good Friday service.

The sermon by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, a Franciscan whose title is "Preacher of the Pontifical Household", drew sharp criticism from both Jews and victims of sexual abuse by priests.

It further racheted up tensions over the abuse scandal, forcing even the Vatican spokesman to distance himself from Cantalamessa, the only person authorized to preach to the pope.

Cantalamessa, speaking with the pope sitting nearby, drew the parallel at an afternoon Good Friday service in St Peter's Basilica on the day Christians commemorate Jesus' crucifixion.

Noting that this year the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter fell during the same week, he said Jews throughout history had been the victims of "collective violence" and drew comparisons between Jewish suffering and attacks on the Church. More

US Jewish leaders denounce Catholic sermon

American Jewish leaders on Friday denounced a Vatican official's likening of anti-Catholicism during the church's escalating abuse crisis to "collective violence" against Jews, but predicted it would not deal a severe blow to the two faiths' often-strained relationship.

"What a sad irony this would be on Good Friday, where so much of the anti-Semitism was brought about by the church against Jews," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "Anti-Semitism was pogroms, inquisitions, expulsions that led to death ... What a grotesque comparison."

During a Good Friday sermon, Pope Benedict XVI's personal preacher compared accusations against the pope and the Catholic church in the abuse scandal to "collective violence" suffered by the Jews.

The priest, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, quoted a letter from a Jewish friend who wrote that the accusations reminded him of the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism."

Hours later, the Vatican sought to distance itself from the incident. A Vatican spokesman said that remarks are not the church's official position and that such parallelism can lead to misunderstandings.

Foxman called it a "blip, an embarrassment" to Catholic-Jewish relations. While Pope Benedict XVI has visited synagogues, traveled to Israel and reached out to Jewish leaders, the relationship has not always been smooth. More