Excerpted from NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press: "VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI has made a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus Christ in a new book, tackling one of the most controversial issues in Christianity.

In "Jesus of Nazareth" excerpts released Wednesday, Benedict uses a biblical and theological analysis to explain why it is not true that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for Jesus' death."

Well thank god that's all settled now. I'm sure the Jewish people are sighing with heartfelt relief that finally they are no longer to blame for Christianity's loss of its one and only prophet. Perhaps we can shift the blame to fanatical Islamic terrorists since they're clearly to blame for just about everything else. Aren't scapegoats grand?

The Pope's new book is now available for electronic download but all digital copies should be checked against the Vatican's posted MD5sum to ensure your copy has not been altered during transmission by the Scientologists.

--Jack