Pope Francis calls for anti-semitism to be 'banned from human community'

By Associated Press Reporter

Pope Francis has called for efforts to ensure that anti-Semitism is "banned from the human community".

Francis lamented current anti-Semitic attitudes as he greeted visiting rabbis from the World Congress of Mountain Jews from the Caucasus at the Vatican on Monday.

He did not mention last month's massacre at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.

But he referred to the upcoming 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, when German Nazis attacked Jews and their property, and the recent 75th anniversary of the roundup and deportation of Jews in Rome, when the city was under Nazi occupation.

Francis said: "Sadly, anti-Semitic attitudes are also present in our own times.

"As I have often repeated, a Christian cannot be an anti-Semite; we share the same roots."

He added: "We are called to commit ourselves to ensure anti-Semitism is banned from the human community."