Pope tells Jewish leaders of suffering

(ANSA) - Rome, September 18 - Pope Francis, as he met with the leader of the World Jewish Congress, said Christians in many parts of the world are now facing the sort of prosecution that Jews have often suffered.
    "Now, it's our turn to suffer," Francis told Ronald S.
    Lauder, the leader of the WJC, during a meeting at the Vatican Wednesday night, Lauder said Thursday. "In the world, there is still great suffering," Lauder said the pope added. "First, it was your turn. Now it's our turn". Francis received a delegation of 40 international Jewish leaders in the Vatican on Wednesday in honor of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year that extends over two days ending Friday.
    The group met with Francis at his residence at St. Marta's House, the Vatican guesthouse where the pope lives.
    Lauder also spoke out against the persecution of Christians. "First the Jews suffered attacks and the world remained in silence," Lauder said.
    "Now the Christians are being annihilated and again, the world is not saying much. Why doesn't the world react? "The World Jewish Congress and the pope agree about condemning the savage attacks against Christians in the Middle East and other regions of the world". Lauder, an American businessman, added that the pope said at the meeting that Christians and Jews should pray together for world peace.
    Francis has previously called for prayers for Christians and other persecuted minority groups all over the world, including in parts of the Middle East, and their defence has been a recurring theme for the pope, who has frequently spoken out against religious intolerance.
    Religious minority groups have been especially threatened by civil war in Iraq between authorities and Islamic militants belonging to ISIS who are attempting to establish a caliphate in the region.
    Francis has also tried to bridge religious divides on a personal level.
    On a trip in May to the Holy Land, Francis reached out to Palestinian leaders as well as Israeli figures, even inviting as his travel companions two old friends from Argentina - a Muslim leader and a rabbi.
    He visited refugees in a Palestinian refugee camp as well as important Israel landmarks including the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.
    The pope has also been a forceful advocate for peace, and has gone as far as to state that force can be justified in efforts to curb radical Islamic militants in Iraq.
    In widely publicized comments made last month, Francis said that bombing is not acceptable, but strong measures can be justified to protect the people of Iraq from ISIS, the Islamic State militants.
    He also denounced the extreme amount of indiscriminate violence in the world that takes the lives of innocent children as well as combatants, and said he found mankind's "cruelty ...
    a little frightening".
    But it was the pope's suggestion that a 'just war' was supportable that has captured headlines around the world.
    "In those cases where there is an unjust aggression, I can only say that it is permissible to stop the unjust aggressor," the pope said during a lengthy news conference as he returned to the Vatican after a five-day visit to South Korea.
    Francis said he felt "especially close" to persecuted Christians everywhere, but noted that all religious minorities have the right to protection from persecution.
    "Today, we are in a world at war - everywhere," said Francis, who noted that someone had suggested to him that the world is now witnessing "World War Three".
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