Pope Francis On Jewish-Catholic Relations: Christians "Cannot Be Anti-Semitic!"

[rug]

Posted: 06/24/2013 1:42 pm EDT

Speaking this week for the first time as pope to an official delegation of Jewish leaders, Pope Francis spoke out strongly on Catholic-Jewish relations, saying that "due to our common roots" a "Christian cannot be anti-Semitic!"

According to a report on Vatican Radio, the pope was meeting with 30 people from the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, which aims to develop better Jewish-Christian relations, at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace’s Hall of the Popes.

During the meeting, the pope said he had come across "important personalities of the Jewish world" but admitted to not yet having been in front of an official audience of Jewish leaders.

While the pope is just beginning his papacy's outreach to Jews, Francis himself has a long history with Jewish people. He's been noted, for example, for a book he wrote with a rabbi while he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. "On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family and the Church in the 21st Century," originally published in 2010 and written with Rabbi Abraham Skorka of Argentina, was released in English in April.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/pope-francis-jewish_n_3491461.html

[IrishAyes]

1. I always hear the best of Pope Francis

And that's what I see, too. Who could not love a pope like him?