Pope: Jews can not be blamed for death of Jesus

POPE Benedict XVI has made a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus Christ, tackling one of the most controversial issues in Christianity in a new book.

In Jesus of Nazareth-Part II excerpts released yesterday, Benedict uses biblical and theological analyses to explain why there was no basis in Scripture that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for Jesus’s death.

Interpretations to the contrary have been used for centuries to justify the persecution of Jews.