Writing in the English-language edition of L’Osservatore Romano,
the secretary of the Commission of the Holy See for Religious Relations
with the Jews has surveyed recent developments in Jewish-Catholic
dialogue. “Some of our Jewish interlocutors were of the opinion that Pope Benedict XVI — given the personal biography of his life — was the last Pope who was able to understand the human tragedy of the Holocaust, and that this was also why he had so committed himself to the work of reconciliation with the Jews,” said Father Norbert Hoffmann.
“Apparently, they had not foreseen that after him a Pope would be elected who, on the basis of the conciliar document Nostra Aetate (n. 4), had already contributed greatly to Jewish-Catholic dialogue, and had given it a decisive impetus in South America,” he continued. The Jewish community therefore welcomed the election of Cardinal Bergoglio with particular joy.”