Catholics defend race conference
Published: Tuesday | April 21, 2009
VATICAN CITY (AP):
The Vatican said yesterday that comments by Iran's president at the United Nations racism conference were "extremist and unacceptable". But it defended its own presence at the meeting against criticism by Jews.
Vatican spokesman the Reverend Federico Lombardi said the Vatican was attending the Geneva meeting because it was an "important occasion to take the fight against racism and intolerance forward".
The conference was marred at its opening Monday when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the Holocaust as a "pretext" for aggression against Palestinians, prompting European diplomats to walk out.