Rabbi blasts Good Friday prayer

BERLIN, March 21 (UPI) -- A prominent German rabbi has blasted a new version of a Roman Catholic Good Friday prayer as insulting to Jews and indicative of anti-Semitism in the Vatican.

Rabbi Walter Homolka said the so-called "Good Friday Prayer for the Jews," which has been revised by Pope Benedict XVI, is likely to damage the Roman Catholic Church's relationship with Jews the world over, Der Spiegel reported Friday.

The prayer, which is only expected to be used at a small number of Catholic churches which use the Tridentine -- or Latin -- mass, translates as: "Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the savior of all men."

"The Catholic Church does not have its anti-Semitic tendencies under control," Homolka said.

He said dialogue between the religions is likely to be strained by the new prayer.

"The purpose of the dialogue is not unification or incorporation. We want to learn to understand each other. That includes avoiding insults like the one we have received in the form of the pope's Good Friday Prayer. I am afraid that, on the Jewish side, Jews will begin voting with their feet, and people will withdraw from the dialogue," he told Der Spiegel.