Pope Benedict XVI's rehabilitation tour has begun: Speaking to a delegation of Jewish groups today, the pope reaffirmed the Catholic Church's rejection of anti-Semitism and said "the Holocaust was a crime against God and humanity." He also announced that in an effort to improve relations with the Jewish community, he would visit Israel in the near future. The pope has been under fire ever since he readmitted to the church a bishop who denied the existence of Nazi gas chambers and said the number of Jewish deaths in WWII was exaggerated.
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