{"id":9107,"date":"2013-09-02T20:02:21","date_gmt":"2013-09-03T02:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=9107"},"modified":"2013-09-02T20:02:21","modified_gmt":"2013-09-03T02:02:21","slug":"pope-francis-conveys-rosh-hashanah-greetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/pope-francis-conveys-rosh-hashanah-greetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis conveys Rosh Hashanah greetings"},"content":{"rendered":"

(JTA) — Pope Francis in a meeting with Jewish leaders sent Rosh Hashanah greetings to Jews worldwide and expressed “concern\u201d at the ban on kosher slaughter in Poland.<\/p>\n

At an audience Monday at the Vatican with World Jewish Congress heads, the pope said he was directing a cardinal to investigate the situation in Poland, where a ban has been in effect on ritual slaughter since January.<\/p>\n

Francis met with a WJC delegation headed by the organization\u2019s president, Ronald Lauder, who presented the pontiff with a kiddush cup and a honey cake.<\/p>\n

A WJC statement said the pontiff and Lauder spoke about the situation in Syria \u201cand agreed to speak out against attacks on religious minorities, such as Coptic Christians in Egypt and against trends to restrict well-established religious practices such as circumcision.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, according to the statement, \u201cThe pope specifically expressed concern about the bans on kosher slaughter in Poland and directed Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Vatican\u2019s Commission for Relations with the Jews, to investigate and host a follow-up meeting as early as next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WJC said the pope, using the Hebrew phrase \u201cShanah Tovah,\u201d asked Lauder to convey holiday wishes to Jewish communities worldwide. The group said the pontiff reiterated a statement made last June that \u201ca Christian cannot be an anti-Semite\u201d and said that \u201cto be good a Christian it is necessary to understand Jewish history and traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referring to the conflict in Syria, \u201cthe pope called the killing of human beings unacceptable and said world leaders must do everything to avoid war,\u201d according to the WJC.<\/p>\n

Francis has met with Jewish leaders and representatives on a number of occasions since his election to the papacy in March. The WJC called it his \u201cfirst private audience with an international Jewish leader\u201d since becoming pope.<\/p>\n

The delegation also included WJC leaders Robert Singer and Maram Stern and the heads of the Latin American Jewish Congress, Jack Terpins and Claudio Epelman.<\/p>\n

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