Pope Visits Synagogue in Rome for the First Time, Says "Violence is in Contradiction with any Religion"

All violence inspired by religion has been denounced by the Pope.

In a report by The Washington Post, Pope Francis, in a visit to Rome's main synagogue, referenced the recent Islamist attacks. He said, "Violence of man against man is in contradiction to every religion that merits the name, in particular the three monotheistic religions." He said, "Every human being, as a creature of God, is our brother regardless of his origins or religious belief."

During the visit, the Pope also rejected all forms of anti-Semitism, calling for "maximum vigilance" to prevent another Holocaust. 

His sentiments were echoed by the Jewish community. The chief rabbi in Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, shared, "Today, the sad novelty is that after two centuries of disasters produced by nationalism and ideologies, violence has come back and it is fed and justified by fanatic visions inspired by religion."

Di Segni told the pope, "A meeting of peace between different religious communities, as the one that is taking place today here in Rome, is a very strong sign against the invasion and abuse of religious violence."

Ruth Dureghello, the president of the Jewish community in Rome, also added in her own speech that the hatred that comes with racism and bias that uses God's name to kill deserves condemnation.

This is the first time that the Pope visted a synagogue as Pontiff, joining the oldest community of Jews as a sign of interfaith friendship. The visit was set to be very tight in security, with journalists going through three different checks within the space of less than 100 meters. Anti-Terror police also patrolled both sides of the riverbank, which is also closed to the public, as reported by  Reuters. 

However, an interfaith relationship is not new. The Pope's visit to the synagogue is only the latest in a tradition that started with St. John Paul II in 1986. It went on with Benedict XVI in 2010, and highlighted the 50th anniversary of the revolution in Christian and Jewish relations that sparked the Second Vatican Council. It is with the beginning of this relationship between the Christian and Jewish Communities, that the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Israel began.

Still, Pope Francis has more of a reach than anyone ever has before. As noted by the Times of Israel, the Argentine Pope has already had a close relationship with the Jewish community before he was elected. The outlet said that Francis' visit is not that of an amateur waddling in an issue. A longtime participant in the Catholic-Jewish dialgoue, Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor said that the Pope's reach "is wholly at ease with the Jewish community and Jewish life. His entrance into that synagogue will not be dissimilar to a Jew entering a synagogue in a new place -- new, yet familiar."