The Pope receives a delegation from the World Congress of Mountain Jews

A delegation of rabbis from the Caucasus 'World Congress of Mountain Jews', led by the President, Mr Ahif Gilalov, was received for the first time in a private audience by Pope Francis on the morning of 5 November 2018.

In his speech, the Holy Father recalled that "a Christian cannot be anti-Semite, we share the same roots. It would be a contradiction of faith and life. Rather, we are called to commit ourselves to ensure anti-Semitism is banned from the human community ".

The audience was also attended by Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Revd Norbert Hofmann, Secretary of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.