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Benedict Exonerates Jews for Jesus' Death

Says Jews, as a whole, were not responsible

By Kate Schwartz,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 2, 2011 9:43 AM CST

(Newser) – Pope Benedict would like to be clear: the Jewish people as a whole were not responsible for the death of God's only son. The pope makes the sweeping exoneration in his new book, Jesus of Nazareth, excerpts of which were released today. In it, Benedict presents a biblical and theological analysis that explains why such an interpretation—which has been used for centuries to justify the persecution of Jews—is not true.

The statement isn't exactly a new one for the Vatican, which in 1965 released a document that firmly stated Jesus' death couldn't be attributed to Jews as a whole. But Jewish scholars welcomed the pope's argument, noting that the faithful are more likely to read commentary than old church documents, and saying it would help fight anti-Semitism. The book, the second installment to Benedict's 2007 Jesus of Nazareth, is set to be released March 10 and concerns the second half of Christ's life, his death, and resurrection, reports the AP.

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing during a general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 2, 2011.
Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing during a general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 2, 2011.   (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 39 comments
Calvert
Mar 2, 2011 9:22 PM CST
I did some research after my previous comment and discovered that Jesus was crucified by he ROMANS not the JEWS. Maybe old Benny outght to read the Bible.
Snarfeh
Mar 2, 2011 6:56 PM CST
Assuming the story of Jesus is not an amalgamation of various savior stories dating back thousands of years prior to Jesus' time, it takes very little research to determine who was literally responsible for the death of Christ. Although Jewish leaders wanted Jesus out of the way, death by crucifixion was a Roman punishment. The Jewish leaders are guilty by association, but the Romans are who literally killed Christ.
Bartmaeus
Mar 2, 2011 2:07 PM CST
Newser dishes out more of the same slanted tripe for the enlightened and free to chuckle and sneer at. And how they chuckle and sneer, the grossly misinformed enlightened and free. How they continue to gobble up this boring fare of falsehood. Dumb, bloated minds.

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