Italian Jewish leaders on Monday played down a fresh row with the Vatican after Pope Benedict XVI rehabilitated a British bishop who has denied the existence of Nazi gas chambers.Italian Jewish Community Union President Renzo Gattegna said that while Holocaust denial was a ''disgrace'', the fact that the Church had welcomed back Richard Williamson was an ''internal matter'' in which he did ''not wish to interfere''.
The head of the Jewish community in Milan, Leone Soued, echoed Gattegna's comments.
''The revocation of excommunication must lead to a moment of reflection, but the Church immediately clarified that the rehabilitation was a religious matter and has nothing to do with (Williamson's) personal ideas, above all Holocaust denial,'' he said.
Williamson, who also claimed the number of Jews who died during WWII was closer to 300,000 than six million in an interview with Swedish television in November, was among four bishops rehabilitated by the pope on Saturday.
The four had been excommunicated in 1988 along with the late dissident French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who had ordained them without permission from the Vatican.
Their rehabilitation is a step towards reuniting the followers of the ultra-traditionalist French archbishop, who belong to the Society of Saint Pius X which he set up in 1970, with the Church of Rome.
The decision to revoke Williamson's excommunication sparked anger over the weekend, with Rabbi David Rosen from the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations claiming it had ''contaminated the entire Church'' and undone years of progress in Jewish-Catholic relations.
Vatican Spokesman Federico Lombardi was quick to clarify that the rehabilitation had ''absolutely nothing to do'' with Williamson's comments, which the Holy See ''does not share in any way''.
The Yad Vashem memorial to victims of the Holocaust in Jerusalem on Sunday recognised that the rehabilitation was ''an internal matter'' but said it was ''scandalous that someone of such stature in the Church should deny the Holocaust''.
''Even if the revocation of excommunication is independent of Williamson's comments, what type of message does that give about the attitude of the Church towards the Holocaust?'', it asked.
But Israeli government sources said a planned visit by Pope Benedict to the Holy Land, rumoured to have been scheduled for May, was still ''in the works'' despite the latest row.
Tensions between the Catholic Church and Israel have been strained in recent months by ongoing polemics over beatification plans for Pius XII, the wartime pope accused by critics of not doing enough to help the Jews.
The Holy See and Israel also exchanged words this month after Pope Benedict XVI's pointman for peace and justice, Cardinal Renato Martino, likened Gaza to ''a big concentration camp'' following Israel's three-week military offensive.
The pope's decision to reintroduce a Good Friday prayer that calls for the conversion of Jews also created a rift.
POPE WANTS REUNION WITH LEFEBVRE FOLLOWERS
In the interests of Christian unity, Pope Benedict has long been interested in drawing the followers of Lefebvre back to the Church.
The ultra-traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X broke with Rome over the changes made at the Second Vatican Council, the ground-breaking meeting of all the world's Catholic bishops in the early 1960s.
The Council, which tried to equip the Church for life in the modern world, introduced reforms in liturgy, ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue and religious liberty.
Among the changes was the shift from the 'Tridentine' or Latin Mass towards ceremonies held in modern languages. This change particularly outraged Lefebvre, who saw it as a betrayal of the Catholic Church's identity.
Pope Benedict himself is an admirer of the traditional rites in Latin and his initiative to allow its return in June 2007 - as an option alongside the modern mass - had been expected almost since he was elected in April 2005.
The Society of Saint Pius X is the only group to break away from the 1.1-billion strong Roman Catholic Church since the reforms of the early 1960s.
Despite its lack of official status the Fraternity is present in 59 countries and counts 453 priests and four bishops. It also runs seminaries in Switzerland, France, Australia, Argentina, the United States and Germany.
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(Source: ANSA)