In his letter of Aug. 13, Klaus Kuck stated that Pope John Paul II apologized at various times for the silence of the Catholic Church during the Holocaust, “especially” while visiting Israel in 2000. Had he substantiated that claim with a quote from just one of those apologies, I’d be writing this letter to admit my error rather than to expose his own.

As a matter of fact, the apology made in Israel was nothing more than a general expression of regret for “the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed to Jews by Christians at any time and in any place,” to quote the pope himself.

By and large, Jewish leaders were dissatisfied. Israel’s chief Ashkenazi rabbi and Rabbi David Rosen, director of the Israel office of the Anti-Defamation League, both lamented the fact that no reference was made to the church’s role during the Holocaust.

And no less a figure than Seymour Reich, chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, the main Jewish partner in formal dialogue with the Vatican, had this to say about the pope’s speech: “I was disappointed that he did not address the silence of the church during the Holocaust. … It was a lost opportunity.”

This is proof positive that the apology the pope made in Israel is not what Kuck claimed it to be. In light of this proof, what grounds are there for supposing the other apologies he referred to pertain to the silence at issue?

William LaRochelle, Lewiston