The Catholic Church on Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of a landmark declaration by which it ended centuries of officially condoned anti-Semitism and urged bridge-building with all other faiths.
"Mutual respect is a condition of interreligious dialogue and at the same time its goal: respecting another's right to life, to physical integrity, to fundamental freedoms - freedom of conscience, of thought, of expression and religion," Francis said.
"What has happened since 'Nostra Aetate' is nothing short of a miracle," Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, said at a press conference in Rome, adding that 150 Jewish leaders had attended the papal audience.
Pope Francis moved quickly after his election in 2013 to make overtures to Jews and Muslims, inviting two old friends from Buenos Aires - a rabbi and a Muslim professor - on a trip to the Middle East where he condemned religious hatred.
