12 May, 2006
A US Catholic leader has called on Catholics to understand the Jewish roots of their religion. The appeal was made by Cardinal Sean O'Malley during his first major speech on Catholic-Jewish relations to an audience at a Jewish community center near Boston on 09 May. He said that while there are great differences between Christians and Jews, the two religions also have much in common, and that "God wants us to be friends."
The cardinal also promised that there would be no retreat from efforts that began in the last century to purge the Catholic Church of any anti-Semitic traditions.
