Francis wants to 'contribute' to Catholic-Jewish relations

In a letter addressed to the rabbi of the Roman Jewish community Riccardo Di Segni, Pope Francis said he expects to “contribute to the progress of the relations between Jews and Catholics."

“I deeply hope to contribute to the progress of the relations that Jews and Catholics hold since the Vatican Council II, through a spirit of renewed collaboration put to the service of a world more and more in harmony with the will of the Creator,” the new Pope affirmed in a message published in the website of the Hebraic community in Rome.

In his first day of his papacy, the first Latin American pope in history visited one of Rome's great basilicas to pray for guidance before the mass at the Sistine Chapel.