Pope Benedict drafts modification to Good Friday prayer in '62 Missal

The lowdown from Rocco:

In a significant "extended hand" for the future of Catholic-Jewish dialogue, B16 has reportedly decided to change the 1962 Missal's controversial Good Friday prayer for the conversion of the Jews.

Reported today by the well-connected Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale, a formal announcement of the move is expected "within days" -- the Triduum is, after all, but nine weeks away.

...

According to the daily, Benedict himself prepared the draft of the decision, which will be released through the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. While the passages deemed viscerally offensive will be struck, the prayer's original emphasis on conversion is to be retained.

The Pope would hope to visit the Holy Land in 2009, provided the current wrinkles in Vatican-Israeli relations are smoothed out.

Reuters' take here.