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Jewish Groups Mourn Death of Pope Francis, Who Condemned Antisemitism and Supported Interfaith Dialogue
Pope Francis holds prayer for migrants and refugees, with the ‘Angels Unawares’ monument, dedicated to the world’s migrants and refugees, behind him in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Oct. 19, 2023. Photo: Reuters
Major Jewish organizations around the world are mourning the passing of Pope Francis, who actively promoted interfaith dialogue between Jewish and Catholic communities and strongly condemned antisemitism.
Francis’s death was announced on Monday morning, one day after he marked Easter with a public appearance in the Vatican. He was 88.
In a released statement, World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder described the Argentine-born Pope, who was the Catholic Church’s first Latin American pontiff, as “a true moral leader, a man of deep faith and humanity, and a steadfast friend to the Jewish people.”
“From his early years in Argentina to his papacy, Pope Francis was deeply committed to fostering interfaith dialogue and ensuring that the memory of the Holocaust remained a guiding lesson for future generations,” Lauder added.
With Francis’s leadership, the WJC opened an office on Via della Conciliazione, mere steps from St. Peter’s Basilica. In November 2022, the WJC’s executive committee held a private audience with Francis and launched the historic “Kishreinu” (Our Bond) initiative, further promoting Catholic-Jewish relations.
“While there were moments of difficulty, particularly in recent months, I remain deeply appreciative of his warmth, humility, and unwavering dedication to meaningful engagement between faith communities,” Lauder stated, seemingly referring to Francis’s outspoken criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. “On behalf of the World Jewish Congress and the more than 100 Jewish communities around the globe, I extend my deepest condolences to all those who were touched by his remarkable spirit. May his memory be a blessing and an inspiration to us all.”
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who was elected to serve as pope in 2013, was the first non-European pontiff since 741. He assumed leadership of the Vatican after serving as a priest, bishop, archbishop, and cardinal in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he “enjoyed an exemplary relationship with the Argentinian Jewish community,” according to the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
Despite making statements over the past 18 months against Israel and its war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Francis has been a longtime supporter of the Jewish community and consistently condemned antisemitism. He was reportedly the first pope to visit the tomb of Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl.
“Early on in his tenure, [he] strongly affirmed positive Catholic-Jewish relations as an integral part of the post-Vatican II Church,” the AJC added in a statement. “Francis made pilgrimages that were substantive visuals of the new era in the Church’s understanding of Jews, Judaism, and the State of Israel,” including a visit to Israel in 2014, the Great Synagogue in Rome in 2016 and, the site of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 2016. The pope also met with AJC delegations at the Vatican in 2014 and 2019.
“Pope Francis repeatedly condemned antisemitism and characterized it as both a sin against God and unchristian,” the AJC noted. “Francis stressed that ‘for a Christian any form of antisemitism is a rejection of one’s own origins, a complete contradiction.’”
“In this sixtieth anniversary year of Nostra Aetate, as we celebrate the positive transformation of Catholic-Jewish relations … we are grateful for Pope Francis’s indispensable leadership and contributions in this shared journey,” said AJC’s Director of Interreligious Affairs Rabbi Noam Marans. “We stand in solidarity with our Catholic brothers and sisters during this time of mourning. May the memory of Pope Francis be for a blessing.”
Francis “was a steadfast advocate for interfaith dialogue and mutual respect between religions,” the European Jewish Congress (EJC) said in a released statement. “His unwavering commitment to combating antisemitism and fostering a spirit of brotherhood between Christians and Jews will be remembered with gratitude and admiration.”
“We have fond and enduring memories of our audiences with the late Pope and his deep commitment to fostering dialogue with Jewish communities and fierce opposition to antisemitism,” added EJC Executive Vice-President Raya Kalenova.
Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), similarly praised Francis’s “untiring efforts in promoting peace.”
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, read a text announcing Francis’s death on Monday from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, where Francis lived. Farrell was accompanied by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state; Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute chief of staff; and Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of liturgical ceremonies. The Vatican did not give a cause of death, but Francis suffered multiple health issues in recent years, most recently overcoming double pneumonia.
“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow, I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Farrell read. “At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the Father’s house. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalized.”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wisenthal Center, remembered Francis for his efforts to denounce antisemitism, how he opened the Vatican’s secret World War II archives in 2020 and “urged people of faith to work together for a better world.”
Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs, who met Francis in 2017, said the relationship between the Catholic and Jewish communities “flourished under Pope Francis’s guidance.”
“He honored the shared heritage of our faiths and took meaningful steps to heal historical wounds, reinforcing a path toward mutual respect and collaboration,” Jacobs noted. “We especially appreciated Pope Francis’s consistent calls for dialogue and mutual respect between Israelis and Palestinians.”
For the first time since surviving double pneumonia, Francis made a grand public appearance in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday. He greeted tens of thousands of Catholics, after the Vatican’s celebration of Easter Mass, and shared an Easter message. He called on Hamas to release the remaining hostages – abducted during the terrorist group’s deadly rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 – and said the “growing climate of antisemitism around the world is worrisome.” He also condemned the “dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation” in Gaza and reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire to end the fighting.
“I express my closeness to the sufferings … of all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people,” read Francis’s Easter message. “I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace.”
In 2013, while speaking to the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, Francis declared, “Due to our common roots, a Christian cannot be antisemitic!”
“I had the joy of maintaining relations of sincere friendship with leaders of the Jewish world,” added Francis. “We talked often of our respective religious identities, the image of man found in the Scriptures, and how to keep an awareness of God alive in a world now secularized in many ways. … But above all, as friends, we enjoyed each other’s company, we were all enriched through encounter and dialogue, and we welcomed each other, and this helped all of us grow as people and as believers.”
Francis also often urged his followers not to forget the lessons of the Holocaust. “The memory of the Shoah [Holocaust] and its atrocious violence must never be forgotten,” he said in a 2018 message, which was relayed through the Vatican’s secretary of state in Berlin. “It should be a constant warning for all of us of an obligation to reconciliation, of reciprocal comprehension and love toward our ‘elder brothers,’ the Jews.”
In 2010, Francis co-wrote, with fellow Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka, the book On Heaven and Earth, which focuses on the differences and similarities between Judaism and Catholicism. In 2017, Francis and Skorka co-authored an introduction for Morality and Legality in Dark Times, a book written by three Argentine doctors about medical experiments conducted by Nazis on concentration camp prisoners during World War II. They wrote that the “human arrogance exposed during the Shoah was the action of people who felt like gods, and shows the aberrant dimension in which we can fall if we forget where we came from and where we are going.”
The post Jewish Groups Mourn Death of Pope Francis, Who Condemned Antisemitism and Supported Interfaith Dialogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Harvard Launches New Academic Partnerships With Israel Amid Trump Funding Fight
Harvard University president Alan Garber attending the 373rd Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, May 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Harvard University has announced new partnerships with Israeli academic institutions, a move which appears aimed at reversing an impression that the institution is ideologically anti-Zionist and content with antisemitic discrimination being an allegedly daily occurrence on its campus.
As first reported by The Harvard Crimson, Harvard will hold a study abroad program, in partnership with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, for undergraduate students and a postdoctoral fellowship in which Harvard Medical School faculty will mentor and train newly credentialed Israeli scientists in biomedical research as preparation for the next stages of their careers. The campus paper — which in 2022 endorsed the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel — said the programs constitute a “dramatic expansion of the university’s academic and institutional ties to Israel.”
Speaking to the Crimson, Harvard vice provost for international affairs Mark Elliot trumpeted the announcement as a positive development and, notably, as a continuation, not a beginning, of Harvard’s “engagement with institutions of higher education across Israel.” Elliot also said Harvard is planning “increased academic collaboration across the region in the coming years.”
The new partnerships with Israel come only months after Harvard paused its relationship with a higher education institution located in the West Bank. They also coincide with the university’s titanic legal fight against the federal government to reclaim over $3 billion worth of taxpayer-funded research grants and contracts the Trump administration impounded to pressure school officials into a process of rehabilitation and reform that will see it discontinue a slew of practices conservatives have cited as causing campus antisemitism, as well as the hollowing out of American values.
Since that first step, the Trump administration has continued backing Harvard into a corner.
In June, the Trump administration issued it a “notice of violation” of civil rights law following an investigation which examined how it responded to dozens of antisemitic incidents reported by Jewish students since the 2023-2024 academic year.
Sent by the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, it charged that Harvard willfully exposed Jewish students to a deluge of racist and antisemitic abuse following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, which precipitated a surge in anti-Zionist activity on the campus. It concluded with a threat to cancel all federal funding for Harvard.
Amid this policy offensive, interim Harvard president Alan Garber held a phone call with major donors in which he “confirmed in response to a question from [Harvard Corporation Fellow David Rubenstein] that talks had resumed” but “declined to share specifics of how Harvard expected to settle with the White House.”
Garber “did not discuss how close a deal could be,” the Crimson reported, “and said instead that Harvard had focused on laying out the steps it was already taking to address issues that are common ground for the university and the Trump administration. Areas of shared concern that have been discussed with the White House included ‘viewpoint diversity’ and antisemitism.”
In a new conciliatory move reported by the Crimson, Harvard closed its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices, packing up the staff and transferring them to what will become, the Crimson said, a “new Office of Culture and Community.” It added that Harvard has “worked to strip all references to DEI … from their websites and official titles.”
Harvard will continue dealing with the fallout of its campus antisemitism problem for the foreseeable future.
Earlier this month, it was sued by a Jewish student who claims that he was exposed to antisemitic abuse because the university refused to intervene and correct a hostile environment even as his bullies’ misconduct escalated to include violence.
The mammoth complaint, totaling 124 pages, lays out the case that the university miscarried justice in the aftermath of two students’ public assault on recent Harvard Business School graduate Yoav Segev during the fall semester of the 2023-2024 academic year — just weeks after the Oct. 7 massacre — by refusing to discipline them and even rewarding them the university’s highest honors.
Segev endured a mobbing of pro-Hamas activists led by Ibrahim Bharmal and Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, who stalked him across Harvard Yard before encircling him and screaming “Shame! Shame! Shame!” as he struggled to break free from the mass of bodies which surrounded him. Video of the incident, widely viewed online at the time, showed the crush of people shoving keffiyehs — traditional headdresses worn by men in the Middle East that in some circles have come to symbolize Palestinian nationalism — in the face of the student, whom they had identified as Jewish.
“This malicious, violent, and antisemitic conduct violated several university policies — such as its anti-discrimination and anti-bullying policies — and it prompted criminal charges,” the complaint says. “No one doubts for a second that Harvard would have taken swift, aggressive, and public actions to enforce its policies had the victim been one of Harvard’s ‘favored’ minorities … Harvard’s antisemitic discrimination against Mr. Segev is far more sinister than inaction and indifference. Harvard did everything it could to defend, protect, and reward the assailants; to impede the criminal investigation; and to prevent Mr. Segev from obtaining administrative relief from the university.”
It continues, “Harvard’s antisemitic intent is obvious. Several of its faculty publicly supported the attacker and tried to blame the victim (because, the faculty said, his Jewish presence was ‘threatening’ to other students). And, of course, hundreds of rabidly anti-Israel students disrupting campus life pressured the Harvard administration. Ultimately, and shamefully, the university kowtowed to the antisemitic mob it had allowed to take over its campus.”
Alleging violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, breach of contract, and conspiracy to deny civil rights, the suit demands all relevant recompense, including damages and the reimbursement of attorneys’ fees.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Hezbollah Chief Rejects Disarmament Amid US and Lebanese Pressure, Accuses Washington of Aiding Israel
Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers a speech from an unknown location, Nov. 20, 2024, in this still image from video. Photo: REUTERS TV/Al Manar TV via REUTERS.
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has once again rejected calls for the Lebanon-based terrorist group to disarm, saying such demands only serve Israel’s interests amid mounting pressure from the United States and the Lebanese government.
“Those who call for us to surrender our weapons are practically asking us to hand them over to Israel. We will not submit to Israel,” Qassem said in a televised speech on Wednesday.
“The US is destroying Lebanon in order to help the Zionist enemy [Israel],” he continued.
Washington and Beirut have engaged in multiple rounds of negotiations in recent weeks over a US proposal to fully disarm the Iran-backed terrorist group, which for years as held significant political power in Lebanon.
The latest proposal calls for Hezbollah to be fully disarmed within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from its five occupied posts in southern Lebanon.
“The US wants to use Lebanon as a tool to implement its own greater Middle East scheme,” Qassem said during his speech.
“The US is complicit in Israel’s violations of the ceasefire and is fueling tensions among Lebanese factions,” the terrorist leader continued.
Washington’s proposal initially called for the Lebanese government to pass a cabinet decision committing to Hezbollah’s disarmament — a step the US is now actively pushing for before resuming talks on ending Israeli military operations.
Despite growing diplomatic pressure, the Lebanese terrorist group has repeatedly rejected demands to surrender its weapons.
“Resistance in Lebanon has proved to be one of the pillars of state construction. Hezbollah’s weapons will be used to protect Lebanon against the Zionist enemy,” Qassem said. “All those who demand Hezbollah’s disarmament are serving the Israeli plot. The resistance will never agree to hand over its weapons to the Zionist enemy.”
Qassem also argued that increasing demands for Hezbollah’s disarmament are driven by Israel’s fear of the Islamist group and accused US special envoy Thomas Barrack of protecting Israeli interests at the expense of Lebanon’s security.
“Israel will not be able to defeat us, and it will not be able to take Lebanon hostage,” he said.
Last fall, Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive, following the group’s attacks on northern Israel — which they claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.
In November, Lebanon and Israel reached a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah.
Under the agreement, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army and UN forces to take over security as Hezbollah disarms and moves away from Israel’s northern border.
However, Israel maintained troops at several posts in southern Lebanon beyond the ceasefire deadline, as its leaders aimed to reassure northern residents that it was safe to return home.
Jerusalem has continued carrying out strikes targeting remaining Hezbollah activity, with Israeli leaders accusing the group of maintaining combat infrastructure, including rocket launchers — decrying “blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
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France Demands Probe Into Refugee Vetting Process as Gazan Expelled by Top University Over Antisemitic Posts
A flag is flown during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, outside the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France, Nov. 27, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
A Palestinian from Gaza studying at the prestigious Sciences Po Lille has been expelled after French authorities discovered hundreds of antisemitic social media posts, including praise for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and calls for the murder of Jews.
The episode has led ministers in the French government to demand answers and push for an investigation into the vetting process that allowed the Gazan student to enter France in the first place.
After receiving a scholarship, 25-year-old Nour Atalla arrived in France earlier this year, planning to begin her law and communications studies at the Institute of Political Science in Lille, northern France.
She is one of 292 Gazans admitted to the country with support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following a court ruling that opened the door for Gazans to seek refugee status based on their nationality.
On Wednesday, the university announced it had revoked Atalla’s enrollment after hundreds of her past antisemitic and violent social media posts went viral, sparking widespread condemnation from political leaders and members of the local Jewish community.
In several of these posts, she glorified Hitler, praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, called for the execution of Israeli hostages and the killing of Jews, and expressed support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
“The content of these posts directly contradicts the core values of Sciences Po Lille, which actively opposes all forms of racism, antisemitism, and discrimination, as well as any incitement to hatred toward any group,” the university said in a post on X.
Le contenu de ces publications entre en contradiction frontale avec les valeurs portées par Sciences Po Lille, qui lutte contre toute forme de racisme, antisémitisme et discrimination, ainsi que contre tout type d’appel à la haine, contre quelque population que ce soit.
— Sciences Po Lille (@ScPoLille) July 30, 2025
In one post, Atalla shared a video of Hitler giving a speech about Jews, writing. “Kill their young and their old. Show them no mercy … And kill them everywhere.”
In another post shared on Oct. 7, 2023, she wrote, “We must do everything we can to match the bloodshed — as much as possible.”
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people, kidnapped 251 hostages, and perpetrated widespread sexual violence during their Oct. 7 onslaught, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
After the posts went viral, French politician Matthias Renault of the far-right National Rally party condemned Atalla’s antisemitic views and called on Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to revoke her asylum status.
“These repeated views pose a serious threat to French society,” Renault said.
In a statement on X, Retailleau announced that he had ordered legal action to be taken against Atalla and “immediately requested the closure of this hateful account.”
“A Palestinian student, admitted to our country through a procedure beyond our Ministry’s authority, made statements that are entirely unacceptable and deeply concerning,” the French official posted.
“There is no place for Hamas sympathizers in our country,” he continued.
Présente sur notre territoire, en raison d’une procédure d’entrée pour laquelle notre ministère n’est pas compétent, une étudiante palestinienne a tenu des propos inacceptables et inquiétants.
J’ai immédiatement demandé de faire fermer ce compte haineux, et donné instruction au… https://t.co/uONrjoEekl
— Bruno Retailleau (@BrunoRetailleau) July 30, 2025
Philippe Baptiste, the French minister responsible for higher education and research, expressed similar outrage, noting he referred to the matter to law enforcement for potential prosecution.
“France does not have to welcome international students who advocate for terrorism, crimes against humanity, and antisemitism,” he said on X. “Whether they come from Gaza or elsewhere, international students holding or relaying such statements have no place in our country. Nor on our territory. Within the government, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that the case of the Palestinian student welcomed at Sciences-Po Lille, who relayed statements of extreme gravity on social networks, is handled with the utmost firmness. I have already referred the matter to the Public Prosecutor under Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.”
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called for an investigation into the screening process that allowed Atalla to enter the country.
“A Gazan student making antisemitic remarks has no place in France,” he posted. “The screenings carried out by the competent services of the relevant ministries have clearly not worked. I have requested that an internal investigation be conducted to ensure this cannot happen again under any circumstances.”
Like many countries around the world, France has seen an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The growing wave of anti-Jewish hatred is fueled in part by a rapidly expanding Muslim population from the Middle East and North Africa — a result of ongoing migration trends in France.
The local Jewish community in France has consistently called on authorities to take swift action against the rising wave of targeted attacks and anti-Jewish hate crimes they continue to face.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that the country will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September — part of its “commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East” — and is now urging other nations to join this initiative.
Israeli officials have condemned such a move, calling it a “reward for terrorism.”
The decision came after Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia officially recognized a Palestinian state last year, claiming that such a move would contribute to fostering a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and promote lasting peace in the region.
Following France’s announcement, Germany said it was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term, and Italy argued that recognition must occur simultaneously with the recognition of Israel by the new entity.
However, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his cabinet on Tuesday that Britain will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the “appalling situation” in Gaza.