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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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Iran Moves to Restore Ties With Bahrain, Egypt Amid Rising Middle East Tensions
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Iran has begun efforts to restore diplomatic relations with Bahrain and Egypt, signaling a potential shift in regional alliances as tensions escalate across the Middle East.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that Iran has officially begun the process of restoring diplomatic ties with Bahrain and Egypt after years of strained relations.
Since Iran normalized relations with Saudi Arabia in 2023, Araghchi said Tehran has made several requests to renew ties with Bahrain, with ongoing efforts expected to soon yield positive results.
In 2016, Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Iran, following Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut relations after an attack on its embassy in Tehran, which was sparked by Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric.
In 2023, Tehran and Riyadh reached an agreement in Beijing to restore diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies and diplomatic missions.
Since then, the Islamic Republic has taken further steps to strengthen its relationship with Bahrain. Last year, Araghchi met with Bahrain’s King, Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, in the country’s capital to discuss bilateral ties and the latest regional developments.
Bahrain normalized relations with Israel, which Iranian leaders regularly say they seek to destroy, in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
As for Egypt, the country severed diplomatic relations with Tehran in 1980 following Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and Egypt’s recognition of Israel.
Araghchi said ties between the two countries have strengthened significantly, with regular high-level meetings and continuous dialogue.
Iran’s expanding relationship with Egypt comes at a time of increased tension between Cairo and Jerusalem, amid Israeli accusations that Egypt has violated their peace agreement.
Israeli defense officials have previously expressed growing concern over Cairo’s military buildup and armed presence in the Sinai Peninsula.
These concerns come amid escalating tensions between Israel and Egypt since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, particularly over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, where Cairo has demanded Jerusalem withdraw its forces.
While details about Egypt’s military buildup remain unclear, “satellite images have shown the movement of tanks and battalions that exceed the limits set by the Camp David Accords,” Mariam Wahba, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told The Algemeiner.
Under the 1979 peace treaty, Egypt can request permission from Israel to deploy more than the 47 battalions allowed. However, some estimates suggest that there are currently camps for 180 battalions.
“The Camp David Accords have long been a pillar of peace and stability in the Middle East,” Wahba explained. “A breakdown of the agreement would have serious implications, not just for Israel and Egypt but for the broader region. It could embolden actors like Iran and its proxies to exploit tensions and could lead to increased militarization along Israel’s southern border.”
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EU to Review Agreement With Israel Over Gaza Concerns, Kallas Says
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas attends a press conference with Moldova’s President Maia Sandu following their meeting in Chisinau, Moldova, April 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza
The European Union will review a pact governing its political and economic ties with Israel due to the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday after a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.
International pressure on Israel has mounted in recent days amid complaints about the lack of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza and as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government launched a new military offensive against the Hamas terrorist group in the enclave.
Kallas said a “strong majority” of the ministers meeting in Brussels favored such a review of the agreement with Israel, known as an association agreement, in light of events in Gaza.
Diplomats said 17 of 27 EU members backed the review, which will focus on whether Israel is complying with a human rights clause in the agreement, and was proposed by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp.
“The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The aid that Israel has allowed in is of course welcomed, but it’s a drop in the ocean. Aid must flow immediately, without obstruction and at scale, because this is what is needed,” Kallas told reporters.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the EU decision. Israeli officials have said their operations in Gaza are necessary to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian group responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel. Hamas also kidnapped several hostages that Israel is trying to free from captivity in Gaza.
Under the pact, which came into force in 2000, the EU and Israel agreed that their relationship “shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy.”
In a letter proposing a review, Veldkamp raised concerns about Israeli policies “exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation.”
He also cited “statements by Israeli cabinet members about a permanent presence that alludes to a reoccupation of (parts of) the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon” and a “further worsening of the situation in the West Bank.”
On Tuesday, Dutch minister Veldkamp called the review “a very important and powerful signal,” echoing sentiments of officials from France and Ireland.
But others did not back a review. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky suggested the bloc could hold a meeting with Israel under the association agreement to raise concerns.
Kallas said EU sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank had been prepared but have so far been blocked by one member state. Diplomats said that country was Hungary.
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Syrian Leadership Approved Return of Executed Spy Eli Cohen’s Belongings to Israel, Sources Say
Nadia, widow of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, looks at photographs depicting her late husband during an interview with Reuters in Herzliya, Israel, Oct. 6, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Syria’s leadership approved the handover of the belongings of long-dead spy Eli Cohen to Israel in a bid to ease Israeli hostility and show goodwill to US President Donald Trump, three sources told Reuters.
Israel announced its recovery of the trove of documents, photographs, and personal possessions relating to Cohen on Sunday, saying its spy agency Mossad had worked with an unnamed foreign intelligence agency to secure the material.
However, a Syrian security source, an adviser to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and a person familiar with backchannel talks between the countries said the archive of material was in fact offered to Israel as an indirect gesture by Sharaa as he seeks to cool tensions and build Trump’s confidence.
Cohen, who was hanged in 1965 in a downtown Damascus square after infiltrating Syria’s political elite, is still regarded as a hero in Israel and Mossad’s most celebrated spy for uncovering military secrets that aided its lightning victory in the 1967 Middle East war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Cohen on Sunday as a legend and “the greatest intelligence agent in the annals of the state.”
While Israel has long sought to recover his body for reburial at home, the return of his archive held for 60 years by Syrian intelligence was hailed by Mossad as “an achievement of the highest moral order.”
Israel has not publicly revealed how the archive came into its possession, saying only that it was the result of “a covert and complex Mossad operation, in cooperation with an allied foreign intelligence service.”
Netanyahu’s office, Syrian officials, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Syria’s role in Israel‘s recovery of the Cohen archive.
COHEN DOSSIER
After rebels led by Sharaa suddenly ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending his family’s 54-year-long rule, they found the Cohen dossier in a state security building, according to the Syrian security source.
Sharaa and his foreign advisers quickly decided to use the material as leverage, the source added.
The Syrian security source said Sharaa had realized that the Cohen archive was important to the Israelis and that its return could amount to a significant diplomatic gesture.
Ending Israeli attacks on Syria and improving relations with the United States and other Western countries are vital for Sharaa as he seeks to revive his shattered country after 14 years of civil war.
Israel regards Sharaa and his ex-insurgents, who once formed the al Qaeda faction in Syria, as unreconstructed jihadists. Israeli forces staged an incursion into border areas last year and have repeatedly bombed targets in support of Syria’s minority Druze sect.
This month, Reuters reported that the United Arab Emirates had set up a backchannel for talks between Israel and Syria that included efforts to build confidence between the sides.
There have also been other indirect channels for talks, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In the talks, Syria agreed to measures including returning the remains of Cohen as well as three Israeli soldiers killed while fighting Syrian forces in Lebanon in the early 1980s, a person familiar with those talks said. The body of one of those soldiers, Zvi Feldman, has been returned, Israel said last week.
The return of the Cohen archive came in the context of those confidence-building measures and was done with Sharaa’s direct approval, the person said.
Last week, Trump held a surprise meeting with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia where he urged him to normalize ties with Israel and announced that he would lift sanctions on Syria.
Syrian officials have said they want peace with all states in the region, and Sharaa confirmed this month that Damascus had carried out indirect talks with Israel via states it has ties with in order to calm the situation.
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