New York, N.Y., June 25, 2001 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today commended Pope John Paul II for his prayer of mourning during a visit to Babi Yar, the Kiev, Ukraine ravine where Nazis systematically murdered 33,000 Jews in 1941.

"The Pope has, time and again, demonstrated to the Jewish community how committed he is to reconciliation and remembering the horrors of the Holocaust," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Today’s prayer for the dead and visit to one of the most infamous sites associated with Nazi atrocities against the Jews is another important manifestation of the continued personal commitment by the Pope."

The Pope visited Babi Yar while on a pilgrimage to the Ukraine. He met with several representatives of the Ukrainian Jewish community, including its Chief Rabbi, Yaakov Dov Bleich, who stood beside the Pope at Babi Yar.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.