Pope tells rabbis that religions must stand united

The first papal audience with the Conference of European Rabbis has been held by Pope Francis, who told those present that Jews and Christians must work together in a Europe challenged by anti-Semitism and secularism, writes Tom Heneghan.

The conference, which rep­resents 700 rabbis across Europe, requested the meeting to ­highlight the coming fiftieth anniversary of the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate, which put Jewish-Christian relations on a new basis of respect. The conference head, Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt of Moscow, said there were parts of the globe still deaf to the document’s message. Both Pope Francis and Rabbi Goldschmidt praised Elio Toaff, the former chief rabbi of Rome who received Pope John Paul II for his historic visit to the Rome synagogue in 1986. “We are on the same side, facing the challenges the Christian communities face in the Middle East and Jewish communities face in Europe with the radicalisation of Islam,” Rabbi Goldschmidt said, stressing most Muslims do not support radicals.