Vatican counters Israeli criticism of Pope

The Vatican has lashed out at Israel for demanding to know why Pope Benedict XVI had left out terrorist attacks on Israelis of his condemnation of terrorism last Sunday. “The Holy See cannot take lessons or instructions from any other authority on the tone and content of its own statements,” the Vatican said in a strongly-worded statement on Thursday. In his Angelus sermon, Pope Benedict XVI had deplored the “death, destruction and suffering in countries including Egypt, Turkey, Iraq and Britain,” referring to a number of recent Islamist terrorist attacks. On Monday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry called in the Vatican envoy and asked why a bomb that killed five Israelis in a Netanya shopping mall on 12 July had not been included.