Pope Seeks Pardon for Catholics

By CANDICE HUGHES

.c The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (March 12) - In an unprecedented moment in the history of the

church, Pope John Paul II asked God's forgiveness Sunday for the sins of

Roman Catholics through the ages, including wrongs inflicted on Jews, women

and minorities.

The apology was a personal landmark for a frail, ailing pope who vowed to

cleanse and reinvigorate Catholicism for its third millennium.

''We forgive and we ask forgiveness,'' he said at several points during

the

solemn Day of Pardon Mass at St. Peter's Basilica.

The church burned heretics at the stake during the Inquisition. Armies of

the

faithful slaughtered Muslims during the Crusades. And during the

Holocaust,

some Catholics stood silent in the face of Nazi genocide.

The pontiff did not specifically mention such infamous wrongs during the

service. Few specific groups were mentioned and no names were given.

Still, the references were clear, both in John Paul's words and those of

the

five Vatican cardinals and two bishops who confessed sins on behalf of the

church.

Cardinal Edward Cassidy recalled the ''sufferings of the people of

Israel''

and asked divine pardon for ''the sins committed by a not a few

(Catholics)

against the people of the Covenant.''

After a moment of silent prayer, the pope responded: ''We are deeply

saddened

by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these

children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit

ourselves to genuine brotherhood.''

Several Jewish leaders praised his penitential words, but said they

expected

more during the pope's March 20-26 visit to the Holy Land. During his trip

the pontiff will visit Israel's Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, and the

Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism.

The director of Yad Vashem, Avner Shalev, called Sunday's day of pardon

both

''significant'' and ''historic.''

But ''he has to pay tribute and commemorate the remembrance of the

Holocaust,

and I know that he is going to address'' it, Shalev said in Jerusalem.

Israel's chief rabbi, Meir Lau, also said he expects more and described

himself as ''deeply frustrated'' by John Paul's failure to mention the

Holocaust by name.

''I hope deeply that the pope of today whom I appreciate very much for his

doings and for his condemning anti-Semitism will complete the asking of

forgiveness next week in Yad Vashem in Jerusalem,'' Lau said.

The 79-year-old pope was dressed Sunday in heavy purple robes, the color

of

penitence. He leaned on his silver staff, his voice clear but his hands

trembling, a symptom of Parkinson's.

At the end of the confessions, he embraced a large crucifix on the altar

for

the special Mass, imploring God's forgiveness.

''We are asking pardon for the divisions among Christians, for the use of

violence that some have committed in the service of truth, and for

attitudes

of mistrust and hostility assumed toward followers of other religions,''

John

Paul said in his homily.

The cardinals and bishops, also wearing purple, cited ''contempt for

(other)

cultures and religious traditions,'' and the treatment of women, ''who are

all too often humiliated and marginalized.''

It fell to the head of the Inquisition's modern-day successor, Cardinal

Joseph Ratzinger, to confess ''sins committed in the service of the

truth.''

''Even men of the church, in the name of faith and morals, have sometimes

used methods not in keeping with the Gospel,'' he confessed. ''Have mercy

on

your sinful children,'' the pope responded.

John Paul described his actions as an attempt to ''purify memory'' of a

sad

history of hate, rivalry, intolerance and omission. The special Mass was a

highlight of his campaign for a collective examination of conscience at

the

dawn of the new millennium.

One of the few groups mentioned by name at Sunday's Mass was the Roma,

also

known as Gypsies, in a confession of hatred toward the weakest members of

society. Lapses by Catholics regarding abortion, mistreatment of children

and

''those who abuse the promise of biotechnology'' were also mentioned.