Pope Francis says that promoting fraternity is the best way to defuse a lurking fuse of anti-Semitism in Europe, which "must not be allowed to burn."
During his brief stop in Budapest to close the International Eucharistic Congress, the Pope met with representatives of the Ecumenical Council of Churches and some of Hungary's Jewish communities.
"I express my appreciation for your efforts to break down the walls that separated us in the past," he said. "Jews and Christians alike, you strive to view one another no longer as strangers but as friends, no longer as foes but as brothers and sisters. This change of outlook is blessed by God; it is a conversion that makes possible new beginnings, a purification that brings new life."
The Pope said that the God of Christians and Jews "always points us in new directions."
The Pope continued:
Pope Francis spoke of Budapest's Chain Bridge as an image of what he discussed.
"The bridge does not fuse those two parts [of the city] together, but rather holds them together. That is how it should be with us too," he said.
In this context, he warned of the "threat of antisemitism still lurking in Europe and elsewhere."
"This is a fuse that must not be allowed to burn," he said. "And the best way to defuse it is to work together, positively, and to promote fraternity."
