Pope: Holocaust victims still heard

JERUSALEM, May 11 (UPI) -- Holocaust victims represent a "perpetual reproach against the spilling of innocent blood," Pope Benedict XVI said in Jerusalem Monday.

The pope said the Catholic Church "is committed to praying and working tirelessly to ensure that hatred will never reign in the hearts of men again," Haaretz reported.

During his first visit to the Middle East and Israel, Pope Benedict made his remarks while visiting Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.

"As we stand here in silence, their cry still echoes in our hearts. It is a cry raised against every act of injustice and violence," the pope said. "It is a perpetual reproach against the spilling of innocent blood."

Rabbi Yisreal Mier Lau, chairman of Yad Vashem council, expressed disappointment at the pope's comments, saying "there certainly was no apology expressed here."

The German-born pope didn't mention the Germans or the Nazis as participants in the Holocaust "nor a word of regret," Lau said.

Pope Benedict walked out of an inter-religious dialogue Monday after Chief Islamic Judge of the Palestinian Authority Sheik Tayseer Rajab Tamimi attacked Israel, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Tamimi, uninvited and taking the podium after the pope, accused Israel of killing women and children in Gaza and making Palestinians refugees, then declared Jerusalem the Palestinian capital. The pope left the building after Tamimi's remarks and before the meeting ended, the Post said.

Afterward, papal spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi issued a statement saying, "The intervention of Sheik Tayseer Tamimi was not previewed by the organizers of the inter-religious meeting that took place at Notre Dame Centre in Jerusalem. ... We hope that such an incident will not damage the mission of the Holy Father aiming at promoting peace and inter-religious dialogue."