VIENNA, MAR 15 (ZENIT.org).- The highest leaders of European Judaism meeting in Vienna, expressed their appreciation for John Paul II's petition last Sunday, in which he acknowledged the sins committed by the children of the Church. "It is very important to ask for forgiveness," Frenchman Joseph Sitruk, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, said. "It is not necessary to say everything in words," he commented, in reference to the Pope's not explicitly mentioning the Holocaust, which has been criticized by some Jewish groups.

    Rabbi Jonathan Sachs of the United Kingdom said that the Pope's gesture was a "courageous" step, and explained that it is a "beginning." "We acknowledge the Pope's serious intention," Sachs said, explaining that in life there are only two ways: either one of lies, or one of truth and forgiveness. ZE00031511