Vatican Defends Pope from Israeli Criticism

The Vatican defended the pope Tuesday from a growing chorus of Israeli critics who accused the German-born Benedict XVI of failing to express enough remorse for the Holocaust — a controversy that threatened to eclipse a papal pilgrimage aimed at building bridges between faiths.
The Holocaust is just one of the many minefields Benedict is navigating as he makes his way through the Middle East. He has also moved to calm Muslim anger over past comments, and been urged by the Palestinians to do more to advance their cause against Israel.
On Tuesday, the pope delivered messages of peace while visiting the holiest Muslim and Jewish sites in Jerusalem — the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall....