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Pope Benedict at the Vatican on Saturday. (Reuters)
Last update - 20:44 05/02/2008
Pope nixes reference to Jews` `blindness` over Jesus in prayer
By Reuters
Tags: Jews, Pope Benedict, Vatican 

Pope Benedict has ordered changes to a Latin prayer for Jews at Good Friday services by traditionalist Catholics, deleting a reference to their "blindness" over Christ, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

The Vatican newspaper l'Osservatore Romano published the new version of the prayer in Latin and said it should be used by the traditionalist minority starting this Good Friday, March 21.

Apart from the deletion of the word "blindness," the new prayer also removes a phrase that asked God to "remove the veil from their hearts".
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But the new prayer hopes that Jews will recognize Christ.

Jewish groups had protested against the old prayer and had asked the Pope to change it.

According to an unofficial translation from Latin, the new prayer says in part:

"Let us also pray for the Jews. So that God our Lord enlightens their hearts so that they recognize Jesus Christ savior of all men."

It also asks God that "all Israel be saved."

Jewish groups complained last year when the Pope issued a decree allowing a wider use of the old-style Latin Mass and a missal, or prayer book, that was phased out after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which met from 1962 to 1965.

Good Friday is the day Christians commemorate Christ's death.

Only some several hundred thousand traditionalists follow the old-style Latin rite and will use the Latin prayer.

The overwhelming number of the world's some 1.1 billion Catholics attend mass in their local languages.

They would use a post-Second Vatican Council missal, which includes a Good Friday prayer for Jews which asks that they "arrive at the fullness of redemption".

Benedict's decree, issued on July 7, authorized wider use of the old Latin missal, a move which traditionalist Catholics had demanded for decades but which Jews and other Christian groups said could set back inter-religious dialogue.

Implementation of the decree has been difficult. The Pope's number two, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said recently the Vatican was preparing a document on how it should be introduced around the world.

Before the Second Vatican Council, Catholic mass and prayers were full of elaborate ritual led in Latin.

Many traditionalists missed the Latin rite's sense of mystery and the centuries-old Gregorian chant that went with it.

Some denounced Council reforms that included a repudiation of the notion of collective Jewish guilt for Christ's death and urged dialogue with all other faiths.

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      1.   Pope lies 21:29  |  Grasman 05/02/08
      2.   We should not trust this pope 21:43  |  Bob 05/02/08
      3.   You need Jesus Pope..the Jews don`t. 22:10  |  z 05/02/08
      4.   It will take a lot more than that to rid the hate 22:11  |  No bad, DO GOOD 05/02/08
      5.   And what will the Jews give in return? 22:17  |  ChrisLinthwaite 05/02/08
      6.   Grasman 22:26  |  Catholic 05/02/08
      7.   #3 Chris Linthwaite 22:41  |  Yonatan 05/02/08
      8.   # 5 - ChrisLinthwaite 22:59  |  Michael 05/02/08
      9.   CHRIS HOW COULD 23:06  |  TOBIA 05/02/08
      10.   The Roman Empire is gone 23:15  |  Mark Lincoln 05/02/08
      11.   Question for Chris Linthwaite 23:29  |  V 05/02/08
      12.   recognize 23:43  |  ema_ 05/02/08
      13.   Z- You need money Z, the christians dont 23:45  |  :) 05/02/08
      14.   Hate is bred on both sides 23:46  |  Fact 05/02/08
      15.   What I cannot understand 23:47  |  KUTW 05/02/08
      16.   Who oversees it reaches churches around the globe? 00:01  |  Fortuna Benmayor 06/02/08
      17.   Chris Linthwait, wasting his prayers. 00:46  |  leo 06/02/08
      18.   to Chris 00:47  |  hollingsworth 06/02/08
      19.   that`s easy, yonaton 00:51  |  hollingsworth 06/02/08
      20.   I prefer the old... 00:53  |  hollingsworth 06/02/08
      21.   The Pope needs glasses 01:01  |  Nixo 06/02/08
      22.   Silly quasi judaic neo-pagan catholic religion 01:08  |  Dror 06/02/08
      23.   the jewish catholic pope Moshedict 01:10  |  Christian Lebanese 06/02/08
      24.   Give the Pope a break. He`s trying to do good... 01:18  |  bat yam 06/02/08
      25.   Changing Passages 01:21  |  TOBIA 06/02/08
      26.   re: ChrisLinthwaite 01:21  |  Efox 06/02/08
      27.   But No 11 is wrong 01:25  |  Jackie 06/02/08
      28.   re: Bob 01:28  |  Efox 06/02/08
      29.   Strange Facts 01:56  |  HS 06/02/08
      30.   Don`t Want YOUR prayers! 02:06  |  ML 06/02/08
      31.   Catholic Prayer is still offensive to Jews 02:13  |  David ben Avraham 06/02/08
      32.   #6 - Catholic 02:19  |  Russ 06/02/08
      33.   What the Torah and the Talmud say about Jesus? 02:32  |  nobodysacred 06/02/08
      34.   18#Christian Lebanese 02:37  |  HS 06/02/08
      35.   Papacy-The Antichrist 02:41  |  Brod 06/02/08
      36.   Strange Facts 02:53  |  HS 06/02/08
      37.   2nd commandment 03:07  |  HS 06/02/08
      38.   I suspect 03:50  |  B. 06/02/08
      39.   32#nobodysacred 03:51  |  HS 06/02/08
      40.   exposing jews 03:55  |  fromtalmud 06/02/08
      41.   #5 All good and true points 04:06  |  David King 06/02/08
      42.   #33 Good question 04:08  |  what is answer 06/02/08
      43.   33 nobody sacred 04:30  |  leo 06/02/08
      44.   More answers 05:07  |  leo 06/02/08
      45.   The Pope... 05:11  |  John Mac 06/02/08
      46.   # 15, they would be Jewish Christians, just like the 1st were 05:24  |  Virginia 06/02/08
      47.   Veil 05:59  |  Joshua 06/02/08
      48.   Can we have christmas and swap Pessach? 10:20  |  SJ 06/02/08
      49.   :) .I. .I. .I. {{((::: 11:14  |  Dror 06/02/08
      50.   leo said it perfectly 11:23  |  Dror 06/02/08
      51.   The full number of Gentiles has to come in.. Romans 11:25.. 11:48  |  Simon 06/02/08
      52.   #23 Christian Lebanese 12:30  |  iL supporter 06/02/08
      53.   # 35 papacy the anti christ by the numbers 12:46  |  Petra 06/02/08
      54.   Jesus` first followers weren`t catholics 12:59  |  Petra 06/02/08
      55.   Offending religions 14:20  |  Eitan 06/02/08
      56.   ther might have been a historical Jesus or Joshua 14:59  |  Dror 06/02/08
      57.   Cont. 15:07  |  Dror 06/02/08
      58.   cont.2 15:11  |  Dror 06/02/08
      59.   Would orthoddx jews let goyim dictate their prayers? 17:45  |  NO! 06/02/08
      60.   Let he that has no sin cast the first stone 17:47  |  Jesus 06/02/08
      61.   #60 The Wounded Beast 18:27  |  Brod 06/02/08
      62.   #59, named NO! 18:30  |  Robert 06/02/08
      63.   #23 Hey Jihadist Lebanese 18:35  |  Robert 06/02/08
      64.   #5 Chris Linthwait My favourite Jew Hater 18:40  |  Robert 06/02/08
      65.   brod # 18:58  |  Robert 06/02/08
      66.   "Let us also pray for the Jews was removed to please the zios 19:10  |  Yaakov Sullivan 06/02/08
      67.   Robert - Idolatry? 19:57  |  Hindu 06/02/08
      68.   Reciprocity - not denial, please 19:58  |  David 06/02/08
      69.   catholics often do not what they do 20:27  |  good catholic 06/02/08
      70.   Re #5, 19 Hasn`t been an accepted text for over 200 years 21:28  |  DJStahl 06/02/08
      71.   Catholics, pandering to Jews won`t save your false religion 21:32  |  Dror 06/02/08
      72.   Brod, you moron!