Pope Benedict XVI: Holocaust denial unacceptable

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI has told Jewish leaders that any denial of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable, especially if a priest does it.

Benedict said during a meeting Thursday at the Vatican with about 60 American Jewish leaders that he is preparing to visit Israel.

The audience was scheduled after Benedict lifted the excommunication of a traditionalist bishop who denied the Holocaust, sparking outrage among Catholics and Jews alike.

The German-born Benedict issued his strongest condemnation yet of Holocaust denial during the meeting. He called the Holocaust a crime against humanity and affirmed the Catholic Church was "profoundly and irrevocably committed to reject all anti-Semitism."