Pope Leo XIV holds an audience with representatives of the media in Paul VI hall at the Vatican, May 12, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV has emphasized his commitment to strengthening the Catholic Church’s “dialogue and cooperation” with the world’s Jewish communities in a letter to an American Jewish leader.

“Trusting in the assistance of the Almighty, I pledge to continue and strengthen the Church’s dialogue and cooperation with the Jewish people in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration Nostra Aetate,” the first US-born pope wrote in a letter to Rabbi Noam Marans, director of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

The AJC posted the letter, which was dated May 8, on the social platform X late on Monday.

We are deeply moved that Pope Leo XIV, so early in his papacy, has reaffirmed his commitment to Catholic-Jewish relations.

In a letter to AJC’s Director of Interreligious Affairs, Rabbi Noam Marans, he pledged to continue to strengthen dialogue with the Jewish people in the… pic.twitter.com/YC1w9gNrYQ

— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) May 12, 2025

The Nostra Aetate was a declaration from the Second Vatican Council and promulgated in 1965 by Pope Paul VI that called for dialogue and respect between Christianity and other religions.

Leo also appeared to invite Marans to his upcoming inauguration: “I am pleased to inform you that the solemn inauguration of my pontificate will be celebrated in Saint Peter’s Square on 18 May 2025.”

In response, AJC wrote in a statement that “we are deeply moved that Pope Leo XIV, so early in his papacy, has reaffirmed his commitment to Catholic-Jewish relations.”

The Jewish group added, “As we approach the 60th anniversary of this landmark declaration [Nostra Aetate], we look forward to working together to deepen understanding and cooperation.”

Leo was elected to become the next bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church last week following the death of Pope Francis in late April, becoming the first American to hold the position.

In his first Sunday blessing, Leo took time to comment on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. He called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages that the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas took during its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.

“I am deeply saddened by what is happening in Gaza,” Leo said. “May a ceasefire immediately come into effect … Let humanitarian aid be given to the exhausted civilian population, and let all hostages be freed.”

Francis had become an increasingly vocal critic of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza in the months before his death.

During his pontificate, Francis strongly condemned antisemitism and promoted interfaith dialogue between Jewish and Catholic communities. However, he also drew the ire of pro-Israel supporters and Jewish leaders, including the chief rabbi of Rome, for his sharp words against the Jewish state.

Israeli officials and Jewish groups offered congratulations last week following the election of Leo.

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A person holds Nazi-related material that was originally confiscated by local authorities when it was shipped to Argentina in 1941, after several boxes containing the material were recently discovered by chance in the archives of the Supreme Court of Argentina, in Buenos Aires, Argentina in this handout picture released on May 11, 2025. Photo: Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Republica Argentina/Handout via REUTERS

Argentine Supreme Court officials have uncovered hundreds of long-forgotten Nazi documents, membership cards, and propaganda materials in the court’s archives, potentially revealing crucial information about the Nazis’ global financial networks and activities outside Germany during World War II.

On Monday, the judicial body revealed that court staff had discovered these documents during the relocation of materials for the upcoming Supreme Court museum, 84 years after they were first confiscated.

According to a press release, the documents were shipped to Argentina in 1941 from the German embassy in Tokyo and seized by local authorities upon the discovery of their contents, but they remained forgotten in the Supreme Court basement until their recent uncovering.

“When opening one of those boxes, we identified material destined to consolidate and spread Adolf Hitler’s ideology in Argentina, when WWII was in full swing,” the release said.

Inside wooden crates in the court’s basement, authorities found documents, photographs, postcards, propaganda materials, and thousands of notebooks connected to the Nazi Party’s overseas organization and the German Trade Union Confederation.

Photos show the boxes filled with notebooks bearing swastikas on their covers, along with data cards that appear to hold personal information and Argentine addresses.

Argentine Supreme Court Minister Horacio Rosatti requested that the boxes be preserved and moved to a more secure office within the building, with “intensified security measures.”

Present at the opening of the boxes were Rosatti, representatives from the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center and the Buenos Aires Holocaust Museum, as well as conservation specialist María de la Paz Podestá — who will oversee the preservation and rehabilitation of all the documents.

“The goal is to carry out a detailed analysis to determine if the material has crucial information about the Holocaust […] and whether the clues found in them can throw light on issues that remain unknown, such as the Nazi money route at a global level,” the press release said.

Local authorities check Nazi-related documents that were recently discovered in the country’s Supreme Court basement. Photo: Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Republica Argentina/Handout via REUTERS

According to the Supreme Court’s historical reconstruction, the German embassy in Tokyo shipped 83 boxes to Argentina on June 20, 1941. At the time, the German embassy in Buenos Aires claimed those boxes contained personal belongings of diplomats and requested they be allowed entry without inspection.

However, the Argentine customs office asked then-Foreign Minister Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú to intervene, expressing concerns about the potential nature of the documents, which could have compromised Argentina’s neutrality during World War II.

After discovering the contents of such documents, local authorities denied the German diplomats’ request for the boxes to be handed over so they could be sent back to Tokyo. They cited the presence of “antidemocratic propaganda” and noted that the German embassy had previously lied to smuggle a radiotelegraph transmitter as diplomatic mail.

In September 1941, a federal judge ordered the material to be seized and sent to the Supreme Court, where it was stored in an underground basement and remained forgotten until now.

Employees handle a box with Nazi-related material that was among several boxes originally confiscated by local authorities when they were shipped to Argentina in 1941. Photo: Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Republica Argentina/Handout via REUTERS

Argentina is home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America, but the country was also a prime destination for many high-ranking Nazi officials who fled Germany after the fall of the Nazi regime during World War II.

Last month, the Argentine government released nearly 2,000 previously classified secret service documents detailing the arrival of hundreds of Nazi war criminals who escaped to the country.

According to these documents, it is estimated that more than 10,000 Nazis used so-called “ratlines” to flee Germany as the Axis powers collapsed, with around half of them believed to have sought refuge in Argentina — known for its reluctance to grant extradition requests.

The documents shed light on the activities of prominent Nazi war criminals who fled to the Latin American country, including Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann and the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele.

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Demonstrators rally at a pro-Hamas encampment at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. on April 28, 2024. Photo: Max Herman/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect.

Jewish students at Northwestern University in Illinois continue to report experiencing antisemitism at alarming rates despite the school’s insistence that the campus climate has improved since pro-Hamas demonstrations held during the 2023-2024 academic year triggered a cascade of antisemitic incidents.

According to a new Spring Campus Poll conducted by The Daily Northwestern, the school’s official campus newspaper, 58 percent of Jewish students reported being subjected to antisemitism or knowing someone who has. An even higher 63.1 percent said antisemitism remains a “somewhat or very serious problem.”

Northwestern University, however, has claimed that antisemitic discrimination on campus is decreasing. Last month, it touted its progress in addressing the issue, publishing a “Progress Report on Northwestern University Efforts to Combat Antisemitism” which enumerated a checklist of policies school officials have enacted since being censured by federal lawmakers over their allegedly insufficient handling of antisemitic, pro-Hamas demonstrations and occupations of campus property in April 2024. Most notably, the document boasted an 88 percent decrease in antisemitic incidents from November 2023 to November 2024.

The so-called progress report was released just over three weeks after US President Donald Trump began confiscating taxpayer funded research grants and contracts previously awarded to elite universities deemed as soft on antisemitism or excessively “woke.”

On Monday, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), a coalition of hundreds of organizations that fight anti-Jewish bigotry around the world, charged that the claims in the report now ring false.

“Yes, the university has reformed policies, implemented trainings, and adopted new definitions. It has pledged transparency and accountability — and some of those measures are meaningful,” the group said in a statement, citing the university’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and enactment of other policies supported by the Jewish community. “But the reality remains: Jewish students continue to feel unsafe, and a majority still see antisemitism as a serious, unresolved issue.”

It continued, “If Northwestern is truly committed to confronting antisemitism, its actions must go beyond compliance. Policies must be enforced. Commitments must be honored in practice. And Jewish students must be seen, heard, and protected. What defines institutional credibility isn’t stated intentions — it’s whether students feel safe. And right now, they don’t.”

In a statement shared with The Algemeiner on Tuesday, Northwestern University maintained that it has made immense progress toward improving campus life for Jewish students, citing as evidence the 88 percent reduction in antisemitic incidents.

“We believe this significant decrease in antisemitic incidents is directly attributable to the strength of our updated policies that were implemented at the start of the 2024-2025 academic year,” said Jon Yates, the university’s vice president of global marketing and communications. “These included revisions to our code of conduct with clear policies and procedures governing the type of actions that are prohibited and the consequences for anyone who engage in them.”

He added, “We remain confident that the measures we have implemented are working as intended and are continuing to adjust and refine our approach as necessary to ensure that our campuses are a safe and welcoming place for all.”

In April, the Trump administration expressed its skepticism of a quick turnaround at Northwestern, impounding $790 million of its federal funds.

Critics of Northwestern’s approach to rampant pro-Hamas and anti-Israel demonstrations have noted that the university’s president, Michael Schill, acceded to protesters’ demands that he establish a scholarship for Palestinian undergraduates, contact potential employers of students who caused campus disruptions to insist on their being hired, create a segregated dormitory hall that will be occupied exclusively by students of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Muslim descent, and form a new advisory committee in which anti-Zionists students and faculty may wield an outsized voice.

“As of this writing, we have received 98 stop-word orders, mostly for Department of Defense-funded research projects, in addition to 51 grant terminations that were mostly received prior to the news of the funding freeze. In addition, we have not received payments for National Institutes of Health grants since March. These now appear to be frozen,” Schill said in a May 1 statement addressing the government’s funding cuts. “This is deeply troubling, and we are working in many ways to advocate on behalf of the university and to resolve the situation.”

The antisemitic incidents that Northwestern University continues to see have not lost their shock value.

In April, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, someone graffitied Kregse Hall and University Hall with hateful speech calling for “Death to Israel” and an “Intifada,” alluding to two prolonged periods of Palestinian terrorism during which hundreds of Israeli Jews were murdered. The vandals also spray-painted an inverted triangle, a symbol used to express support for the terrorist group Hamas and its atrocities.

“Antisemitic acts cannot and will not be tolerated at Northwestern, nor will vandalism or other violations of our polices on displays, demonstrations, or conduct,” Schill said following the incident. “We are working systematically and utilizing camera footage, forensics, and other methods to identify the individuals responsible for this vandalism. If these individuals are current Northwestern students, they will be immediately suspended and face full disciplinary proceedings under university policies, as well as criminal charges under the law.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

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