The Pope's Potential Appointment

"Pope May Make First Trip to Israel and Palestinian Lands in '09"
A11, Friday 11/28/08
By Rachel Donadio

This piece discusses Pope Benedict's potential visit to Israel and Palestinian-controlled territories in 2009 but centers more around the overall, and oftentimes, problematic relationship between Israel and the Vatican. The central difficulty today, as the NYT has previously reported, is the debate over the beatification of Pope Pius XII (1939-1958), "who some Jews say... did not do enough to save Jews during the Holocaust."

According to the article, this has resulted in "weeks of tension between the Vatican and Israel," though fails to mention if the Israeli government itself has lobbied against Pius' beatification or if it has been the work of non-governmental Jewish organizations or some other party. It is also somewhat difficult to believe that Pius' beatification has been delayed or questioned in "tacit acknowledgment of Jewish concerns." If Pius failed to sufficiently act to save the Jews or other targeted minorities amidst the Nazi horrors, it would not simply be a particular 'Jewish concern' but a moral humanitarian question for those responsible for determining whether Pius is worthy of beatification.

All things considered, this article doesn't quite seem newsworthy if its main purpose was to highlight a potential visit from Pope Benedict to the 'Holy Land' in 2009.