Following what they termed a warm and friendly Vatican audience with Pope Benedict XVI, Jewish leaders are expressing conviction that
Jewish-Catholic relations will broaden and deepen under his pontificate.
"After this meeting, we are confident that under the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Church will continue to build upon its growing relations with the Jewish community," World Jewish Congress President Edgar Bronfman said in a statement after the audience.
The WJC's chairman, Rabbi Israel Singer, added that the church and the Jewish community would cooperate on joint humanitarian initiatives, including "much-needed relief and education aid to Africa, a continent suffering from the plague of AIDS."
