The analysis: In "Jesus of Nazareth-Part II," Pope Benedict deconstructs one account from the Gospel of Matthew which has the crowd saying, "His blood be on us and on our children."
What he says: But Pope Benedict said Jesus' death wasn't about punishment, but rather salvation. Jesus' blood, he said, "does not cry out for vengeance and punishment, it brings reconciliation. It is not poured out against anyone, it is poured out for many, for all."
Why it's important: The phrase is frequently cited as evidence of the collective guilt Jews bore and the curse that they carried as a result. The phrase has been so incendiary that director Mel Gibson was reportedly forced to drop it from the subtitles of his 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ," although it remained in the spoken Aramaic.
