Acts of anti-semitism in Europe 'shame' says pope

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 15 - Recent and ongoing acts of anti-semitism in Europe are a "shame", Pope Francis has said in his autobiography, excerpts of which ANSA has been able to see.
    "Think, for example, of the acts of violence by some fanatics, the desecrated Jewish tombs or the houses branded with the Star of David in several European countries after the outbreak of the new conflict in the Middle East in October 2023," Francis says in 'Life. My story in history', the autobiography written with Mediaset's Vaticanist Fabio Marchese Ragona, to be published on 19 March by HarperCollins in Italy and in 20 other countries around the world.
    "It is a disgrace, especially since it is often young people who are involved! "As if they did not understand what the Shoah was!".
    The pope also dismissed reports that he was thinking of reforming the conclave, the assembly of cardinals that elects popes.
    "On the subject of the Conclave, some American media have circulated the news that I have in mind to change the rules, admitting to the vote for the election of the new Pope also nuns and lay people: these are all fantasies, inventions put about evidently to create discontent in the Church and disorientation in the faithful", says Francis in Life.
    Pope Francis also touches on the enduring mystery of the disappearance of 15-year-old Vatican citizen Emanuela Orlandi on her way to a music lesson on June 22 1983 in the book.
    "In the Vatican we still suffer so much for the disappearance, more than forty years ago, of one of our citizens, Emanuela Orlandi, who was fifteen years old at the time," says Francis.
    "I continue to pray for her and her family, especially her mother. "There is an inquiry open in the Vatican, so that light can be shed on this story and the truth can emerge.
    "Speaking of Emanuela, however, I want all those families who mourn the passing of a loved one to feel my closeness. I am close to them," the Pontiff says. (ANSA).