World / Pope Benedict XVI Church Sex Abuse Fallout Compared to Anti-Semitism Pope Benedict's personal preacher defends pontiff against attacks By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff Posted Apr 2, 2010 4:06 PM CDT Copied Pope Benedict XVI presides over the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) torchlight procession on Good Friday in Rome, April 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito) A high-level Vatican official who serves as preacher to the papal household is under fire for saying in his Good Friday homily that criticism of the way the pontiff has handled the child sex abuse scandal is comparable to "the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism." The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa said he was quoting a letter he had received from a Jewish friend. " The Vatican is entitled to defend itself but the comparison with anti-Semitic persecution is offensive and unsustainable, " an American Jewish leader told Reuters. The Vatican quickly scrambled to distance itself from Cantalamessa's remarks. A spokesman contacted the AP to say his speech was "not an official position of the Catholic church." (More Pope Benedict XVI stories.) Report an error