December 13, 2011
Sacks tells pope Jewish-Christian relations in Britain good
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Pope Benedict XVI, left, is greeted by Lord Jonathan Sacks, chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth at the Vatican on Dec. 12. Photo by REUTERS/Osservatore Romano
Following an audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, Britain’s chief rabbi described relations between Christians and Jews in his country “as good as you’ll find anywhere in the world.”
In an interview with Vatican Radio following his meeting with the pope on Monday, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said Benedict had raised the issue of the current state of Christian-Jewish relations.
The pope “continually wanted to know how was that state of relationship in Britain, where in fact of course it’s as good as you’ll find anywhere in the world,” Sacks said.
He said the pope also wanted “to reaffirm his belief in our shared belief in the god of Abraham, our shared commitment to the Ten Commandments and our shared belief that society must have a spiritual dimension.”
He said he and the pope were both “very concerned obviously with the soul of Europe, I mean Europe was built on Judeo-Christian foundations.”
