Jewish Telegraphic Agency - 01.17.2006

Benedict blasts anti-Semitism

(JTA) Pope Benedict XVI denounced global anti-Semitism. 

“We cannot but denounce and fight hatred and incomprehension, injustice and violence that continue to sow concern into the souls of men and women of good faith,” Benedict said Monday during his first meeting with Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni. “How can one not be hurt and worried by the renewed displays of anti-Semitism that sometimes appear?” 

Benedict, who has vowed to pursue the interreligious dialogue championed by his predecessor, John Paul II, thanked God for saving Jews from past travails. 

“The people of Israel have been freed on numerous occasions from the hands of their enemies and the hand of the Almighty has supported and guided them during centuries of anti-Semitism (and) in the dramatic time of the Shoah,” he said.