VATICAN CITY, Dec 13: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked Pope Benedict to denounce a conference in Iran questioning the Holocaust, an Olmert aide said on Wednesday.
The Israeli leader and the head of the world’s one billion Roman Catholics spoke for about 40 minutes at the Vatican.
Mr Olmert, on a tour of Germany and Italy, renewed a standing invitation for the pontiff to visit the Holy Land.
“The prime minister asked the pope to talk about the Holocaust denial conference and not just to stop with a statement,” said Olmert's spokeswoman Miri Eisin.
She was referring to a toughly worded statement by the Vatican on Tuesday criticising a conference hosted by Iran to question whether Nazi Germany used gas chambers.
The Vatican statement said the Holocaust must remain forever a warning to respect the rights of others. Using the Hebrew word for the Holocaust, `Shoah’, it expressed `great compassion’.
Later, after talks with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, Mr Olmert told reporters that the Tehran conference was `another expression of the most brutal kind of anti-Semitism’.
MR Prodi said he had told Mr Olmert of his own `disgust and total disagreement’ at the Holocaust forum.
PAPAL VISIT: Mr Olmert said the pope expressed `willingness’ to visit the Holy Land, adding: “The timing will be determined at a later date.” Pope Benedict has already told Israeli leaders he would like to visit the Holy Land next year.
The first pope to go there was the late John Paul in 2000, after leading the Vatican to forge diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
Mr Olmert and the pope also discussed outstanding details of a bilateral agreement between the Vatican and Israel regarding property ownership and taxation of the church.
The Israeli aide said Pope Benedict also complemented Mr Olmert on `the restraint he has shown’ to keep a ceasefire going in Gaza.
A Vatican statement said the pope, Mr Olmert and Vatican diplomats discussed Middle East prospects, the situation of the Catholic minority there and access to Christian sites in the Holy Land over the coming Christmas season.—Reuters
