Pope Benedict XVI has described his visit to the Holocaust memorial as an upsetting encounter with cruelty and senseless hatred.
The pontiff made his remarks in a Vatican speech Monday, just days after his decision to move the wartime Pope Pius XII closer to sainthood angered Jewish groups.
Benedict signed a decree Saturday on the virtues of Pius, who has been criticized for not doing enough to stop the Holocaust. The decree means Pius can be beatified once a miracle attributed to his intercession has been recognized. Beatification is the first major step before possible sainthood.
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The pope said his May visit to the Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem, was "an upsetting encounter with the cruelty of human fault," and with "the hatred of a blind ideology."
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