Pope regrets Muslim speech 3 years ago

Jordan's hard-line Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition group, said they were boycotting the pope's visit because he did not issue a public apology ahead of time as they demanded.

The pope has also had strained ties with Jews that he hopes to improve during his Mideast tour, which will take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Benedict spoke of an “inseparable bond” between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people Saturday when he visited Mount Nebo, the wind-swept hill overlooking the Jordan valley where the Bible says Moses saw the Promised Land.

“May our encounter today inspire in us a renewed love for the canon of sacred scripture and a desire to overcome all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual respect and cooperation in the service of that peace to which the word of God calls us,” said the German-born Benedict.

The pope sparked outrage among many Jews earlier this year when he revoked the excommunication of an ultraconservative bishop who denies the Holocaust.

Benedict's forceful condemnation of anti-Semitism and acknowledgment of Vatican mistakes have softened Jewish anger over the bishop. But another sore point has been World War II Pope Pius XII, whom Benedict has called a “great churchman.” Jews and others say he failed to do all he could to stop the extermination of European Jews.

Despite the disputes, Jewish leaders say Benedict, who served in the Hitler Youth corps as a young man in Germany and then in the army before deserting near the end of the war, has an excellent record in fighting anti-Semitism. He has already visited synagogues in Cologne, Germany, and New York and is expected at Rome's central synagogue later this year.

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