Pope Francis pledges to oppose restrictions on religious freedoms
Rome, 03 September 2013: Pope Francis on Monday wished Jews around the world a sweet
and peaceful year 5774, called for increased dialogue among the world’s religious
communities and opposed fundamentalism in any faith. During his first private audience
with an international Jewish leader since being elected Catholic pontiff in March,
Francis asked World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder to convey his
New Year message to Jewish communities world-wide and said he also needed a sweet
year because of the important decisions lying ahead. Using the Hebrew words for ‘Happy
New Year’, Pope Francis wished a "Shana Tova" and asked the WJC to share that message
with the Jewish people worldwide. Lauder presented the pope with a Kiddush cup and
a honey cake.
At their meeting, which was held in an informal atmosphere at
the Vatican, Lauder and the Pontiff spoke about the situation in Syria and agreed
to speak out against attacks on religious minorities, such as Coptic Christians in
Egypt and against trends to restrict well-established religious practices such as
circumcision. The pope specifically expressed concern about the bans on kosher slaughter
in Poland and directed Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Vatican’s Commission
for Relations with the Jews, to investigate and host a follow-up meeting as early
as next week.
Pope Francis reiterated a statement made last June that ‘a Christian
cannot be an anti-Semite’ and said that ‘to be good a Christian it is necessary to
understand Jewish history and traditions.’ He added that Jews and Christians shared
the same roots and that dialogue was the key to building a common future. Referring
to the conflict in Syria, the pope called the killing of human beings unacceptable
and said “world leaders must do everything to avoid war.”
After the meeting,
Ronald S. Lauder praised the pope for his unwavering commitment to dialogue and said
that “Pope Francis’ leadership has not only reinvigorated the Catholic Church but
also given a new momentum to relations with Judaism. Never in the past 2,000 years
have relations between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people been so good. The
leadership of successive popes over the past five decades has helped to overcome a
lot of prejudice. This allows us now to work together in defending religious freedom
wherever it is under threat and whichever community is affected.”
Lauder was
accompanied to the meeting at the Vatican by Latin American Jewish Congress President
Jack Terpins, WJC CEO and EVP Robert Singer, WJC Associate EVP Maram Stern, and LAJC
Executive Director Claudio Epelman.
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) is the
international organization representing Jewish communities in 100 countries to governments,
parliaments and international organizations. Since its foundation in 1936, the WJC
has been at the forefront of inter-religious dialogue, notably with the Catholic Church. Source:
VR Sedoc