Pope worried about hatred, growing anti-Semitism

VATICAN CITY — At a recent meeting with a delegation rom the American Jewish Committee, Pope Francis said that he was worried about growing anti-Semitism. “A source of great concern to me is the spread, in many places, of a climate of wickedness and fury, in which an excessive and depraved hatred is taking root,” the pope said. “I think especially of the outbreak of anti-Semitic attacks in various countries. Today I wish to reiterate that it is necessary to be vigilant about such a phenomenon.”

Francis said interreligious dialogue was an important tool in the fight against hatred and antisemitism. “Jews and Christians share a rich spiritual heritage, which allows us to do much good together,” he said. “At a time when the West is exposed to a depersonalizing secularism, it falls to believers to seek out each other and to cooperate in making divine love more visible for humanity; and to carry out concrete gestures of closeness to counter the growth of indifference.”