Vatican urges repentance for sins of omission.

In a landmark document that was 11 years in the making, the Vatican expressed deep regret for the errors and failures of Catholics who did not do enough to resist the mass killings of Jews during World War II or to help the persecuted Jews. The document, which was released March 16 and is called "We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah," also acknowledged that centuries of anti-Jewish attitudes within the church may have contributed to this lack of resistance to the Nazi genocide.

"For Christians, this heavy burden of conscience of their brothers and sisters during the Second World War must be a call to penitence," said the document issued by the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. "This is an act of repentance since, as members of the church, we are linked to the sins as well as the merits of all her children."

In a letter accompanying the release of the document, Pope John Paul II called the Jewish Holocaust, or Shoah, an "unspeakable iniquity" and an "indelible stain on the history of the century." He placed the document in the context of his efforts to encourage Christians to examine their responsibility for "evils of our time" in anticipation of the Jubilee Year 2000.

In contrast to earlier, more self-critical statements by the Catholic bishops of Germany and France, however, the Vatican document did not acknowledge any "co-responsibility" for the Shoah on the part of the church due to the history of anti-Judaism within its ranks. "The Shoah was the work of a thoroughly modern neo-pagan regime," the document said. "Its anti-Semitism had its roots outside of Christianity." And while it acknowledged the failures of some Christians, it also said many others acted heroically to save Jews. In particular, it defended the "wise diplomacy" of Pope Pius XII, who is criticized by some for not having spoken out more forcefully against the Nazi reign of terror. The document did not reflect on the actions of those Christians who actively participated in the extermination of millions of Jews.

Reactions among Jewish leaders were mixed. Most expressed various degrees of "disappointment" in the document's relatively cautious and muted self-criticism, while a minority praised the statement's repudiation of anti-Semitism.