The official announcement by the Vatican of Pope Benedict XVI's visit in May 2009 to Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories has been welcomed by the president of the World Jewish Congress. Ronald S. Lauder called the visit "timely" and emphasized that it presents the pontiff of the Catholic Church with an "opportunity not to be missed", in view of recent controversies over the lifting of the excommunication of Holocaust denier Bishop Williamson, the Good Friday prayer, and the discussion of the beatification of wartime Pope Pius XII. "This important visit will be warmly welcomed by Israel and the Jewish people. Pope Benedict's visit to the memorial Yad Vashem will be very significant, in light of the controversy concerning Bishop Williamson and the Society of Saint Pius X. We also note with appreciation that the Vatican is considering opening its archives in order to allow for further research to be carried out on the role of Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust. This would shed much light on the issue and help resolve unanswered questions for all concerned," Lauder said.
However Lauder expressed deep disappointment over the Vatican's announcement that it will attend the United Nations Durban Review Conference (DRC), or Durban II, next month in Geneva. "We hoped that the Vatican would join Canada, Italy and the United States and decide to stay away from 'Durban II'. Sadly, this forum is already shaping up as a repeat of the failed 2001 conference in Durban, which, instead of combating racism, singled out Israel alone for blame," said Lauder. "As evidenced by the preparatory documents, the DRC will not constitute a platform for the honest and constructive address of racism around the world. All signs point to its becoming another prejudiced forum.
"The United Nations should not allow the very principles upon which it was founded, namely combating hatred and bigotry, to be trivialized by this conference, and the Vatican should not be a party to a forum that instead of fighting racism, would promote it", said Lauder. Last week, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini had announced that Italy would not attend the Durban Review Conference in Geneva from 20-24 April 2009. The governments of Canada, Israel and the United States have also withdrawn from the Durban review process.
See the WJC feature on the Durban Review Conference
