WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI wants to make his eight-day visit to Jordan and Israel a powerful symbol of his determination to reduce hatred in the world and build better ties between the Roman Catholic Church he heads and the other great monotheistic religions of Islam and Judaism. But the times are against him.

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

AMMAN, Jordan, May 10 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI Sunday urged greater respect for women and condemned terrorism during a historic mass in Amman, Jordan.

AMMAN, Jordan, May 9 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI Saturday visited the King Hussein Mosque in the Jordanian capital Amman, but did not pray at the mosque, Vatican officials said.

AMMAN, Jordan, May 8 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI got a royal welcome in Jordan, with King Abdullah meeting him Friday at the airport in Amman.

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 7 (UPI) -- The Taliban told Pope Benedict XVI there will be "serious consequences" if he continues in what the group called efforts to convert Afghans.

JERUSALEM, May 5 (UPI) -- An Israeli Knesset member Tuesday called Pope Benedict XVI an anti-Semite and unsuccessfully demanded a discussion on the pontiff's upcoming visit to Israel.

JERUSALEM, May 4 (UPI) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres says the sovereignty of Christian sites in Israel should be turned over to the Vatican, a gesture facing strong opposition.

VATICAN CITY, April 30 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI formally apologized at the Vatican to Canadian Indians for abuse by missionaries from the 19th century until the 1970s.