Pope regrets crisis in dialogue with Jews – condemns anti-Semitism

Vatican City - The Vatican's dialogue with Judaism has been strained for many years. Now Pope Leo XIV has tried to set the record straight – with a clear commitment to dialogue and against anti-Semitism.

Published on 29.10.2025 at 12:31 –

Pope Leo XIV has emphatically declared the Church's commitment to combating anti-Semitism and regretted misunderstandings in the Catholic-Jewish dialogue. At the general audience in St Peter's Square, which was also attended by Jewish representatives from Israel, the Pope proclaimed to the applause of those present with a view to the past 60 years: "Since then, all my predecessors have condemned anti-Semitism in clear terms. And so I too confirm that the Church does not tolerate anti-Semitism and combats it - and does so on the basis of the Gospel itself!"

At the same time, the Pope conceded "that there have been misunderstandings, difficulties and conflicts in the current phase". However, these have never prevented the continuation of dialogue. He added: "Even today, we must not allow political circumstances and the injustices of some to jeopardise this friendship, especially as we have already achieved so much. The spirit of Nostra aetate continues to illuminate the path of the Church."

Irrevocable recognition

In the theological part of his speech, he had previously emphasised that the Church had dogmatically recognised the Jewish roots of Christianity for the first time with the 1965 Council document "Nostra aetate". This was "irrevocable on a biblical and theological level".

The audience in St Peter's Square was also attended by prominent participants in an interreligious conference currently taking place in Rome. Among them are several representatives of Jewish organisations. Jewish representatives protested at the congress at the Pontifical Gregorian University on Monday after a Catholic theologian compared the actions of the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip to the Shoah.

The Catholic-Jewish dialogue has been marked by tensions since the outbreak of the Gaza war on 7 October 2023. Among other things, the Jewish side accuses the Vatican of not having taken a clear enough stance against the massacres by the Islamist Hamas and in favour of Israel's right to defence. (KNA)