World Jewish leaders meet with pope, discuss anti-Semitism

Published: 2007-10-09

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI welcomed the new leaders of the World Jewish Congress to the Vatican. Ronald S. Lauder, elected president of the congress in June, said his talks at the Vatican Oct. 8 focused on interreligious dialogue and on anti-Semitism in a number of European countries. While the congress issued a press release after the meeting, the Vatican simply announced that the pope had met the officers of the congress, which represents Jewish communities in more than 80 countries. The congress' statement said Lauder, a former U.S. ambassador to Austria, told the pope that "the anti-Semitic statements" attributed to Redemptorist Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, founder and director of Poland's Radio Maryja, "should not be tolerated anymore." Lauder "called on the pontiff to take action against those in the church who wanted to do damage to the close and positive relationship between Christians and Jews," the statement said. Father Rydzyk, whose radio station ranks fifth in Poland's national ratings, repeatedly has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks.

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