Pope Benedict XVI has been living out his promise to ease inter-faith relations with a visit to a synagogue and Muslim leaders during his four-day visit to Germany for World Youth Day.
The Pope, who was part of the Hitler Youth during World War II, visited Friday the Cologne Synagogue which was destroyed by the Nazis and later rebuilt.
He said that relations between Jews and Christians had been “complex and often painful” and that both religions had to now join forces.
“We must come to know each other much more and better,” he said.
Part of the cross-faith initiative by the Pope also included a meeting with leaders of Germany’s mainly Turkish Muslim community on Saturday.
Before Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s election as Pope, he urged the predominantly Muslim Turkey to seek entry to an association of Islamic nations rather than the EU with its Christian roots.
During yesterday’s visit to the Jewish synagogue Benedict said: “The Catholic Church is committed – I reaffirm this again today – to tolerance, respect, friendship and peace between all peoples, cultures and religions.”
The Pope arrived for World Youth Day Thursday to a noticeably smaller yet just as enthusiastic crowd cheering ‘Viva il Papa’ and ‘Benedetto’.
Provost Dr Norbert Feldhoff, chairman of the Metropolitan Chapter in Cologne said that the fact that the first cathedral to be visited outside the Diocese of Rome was the Cologne Cathedral “fills us with pride”.
The Pope said to the crowds of young pilgrims on Thursday: “Today it is your task to live and breathe the Church’s universality. Let yourselves be inflamed by the fire of the Spirit, so that a new Pentecost will renew your hearts.”
The visit by the Pope also included a formal meeting with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and a visit to the residence of the German President Horst Koehler. His visit will end on Sunday with a special Mass at World Youth Day.
Maria Mackay
Christian Today Correspondant