Pope says Toaff 'man of peace and dialogue'

(ANSA) - Vatican City, April 20 - Pope Francis on Monday remembered Elio Toaff, the former chief rabbi of Rome who died Sunday night aged 99, as a "man of peace and dialogue who welcomed John Paul II on his historic visit to (Rome's Synagogue in 1986)".
    Receiving a delegation from the Conference of European Rabbis for the first time, Francis said he was "close to (chief rabbi Riccardo) Di Segni and the whole community of Roman Jews" in mourning Toaff.
    The pope also voiced concern over mounting anti-Semitism in Europe and said the lesson of Auschwitz and the Shoah should "serve as a warning for present and future generations".
    He also condemned violence against Christians and members of other faiths.
    Polish pope John Paul II was the first leader of the Catholic Church in nearly 2,000 years to visit a synagogue, calling Jews "our beloved elder brothers" in a milestone for Catholic-Jewish relations. Toaff, who retired in 2001, entitled his autobiography Perfidious Jews, Elder Brothers, noting the huge improvement in ties.
    The first part of the title came from a Good Friday prayer Catholics recited for centuries until the Church in the 60s officially repudiated the concept of collective Jewish guilt for the death of Jesus.
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