(OSV News) -- "God," Pope Francis once said, "is God for all; and if God is God for all, then we are all sons and daughters of God."
This credo, spoken during a 2024 interreligious meeting in Singapore -- with almost 600 young people of varying beliefs in attendance -- seemed to run through Pope Francis' approach to interfaith relations during his 12-year pontificate.
While Pope Francis, who died April 21, dialogued with people of many faiths, he seemed to have a special intensity of focus for the Abrahamic siblings of Christianity -- Judaism and Islam.
"I think his legacy will be that he brought about a sea change in the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, in that he always treated the Jewish community -- the Jewish people -- as his brothers and sisters; as his family," said Menachem Rosensaft, an adjunct professor at Cornell Law School, lecturer at Columbia Law School, and general counsel emeritus of the World Jewish Congress.
Pope Francis visited Israel in 2014; regularly met with Jewish leaders and organizations and sent them messages of solidarity; visited synagogues; hosted interfaith dialogues; called for Christians and Jews to work together to counter negative trends in society; and spoke out against prejudice.
"Francis repeatedly condemned antisemitism and characterized it as both a sin against God and un-Christian," said Rabbi Noam Marans, director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee.
"He had a unique way of speaking about the latter point. He would say, 'How could a Christian be antisemitic?' He didn't mean by that that there's no such thing as a Christian antisemite," Rabbi Marans qualified. "He just said it's completely irrational. 'After all,' he would say to some effect, 'our roots are in Judaism.'"
While not meant as a criticism of previous pontiffs -- both Rosensaft and Rabbi Marans acknowledged St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI's positive efforts -- Rosensaft said Pope Francis' abundant warmth and lived experience added a new dimension to interfaith encounters.
"Pope Francis grew up with an awareness -- not only of the Jewish people, but of the tragedy that had befallen the Jewish people in his lifetime," explained Rosensaft. "If you read his autobiography 'Life,' the second chapter is devoted to his recollection of becoming aware, as a child, of the immensity of the Holocaust."
From that awareness grew lifelong, personal friendships with Jews, who Pope Francis considered to be "his colleagues -- people he confided in; people who confided in him," noted Rosensaft, mentioning Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka. "And that sense translated into a different relationship as pope."
The son of Holocaust survivors, Rosensaft once sent Pope Francis a sermon Rosensaft delivered at the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York, detailing his search for God amidst the horrors of the Holocaust. The pope's personal response was, for Rosensaft, proof of Pope Francis' "genuine, empathy and warmth -- and respect for the Jewish spirituality; for the Jewish religion; for the Jewish race."
Rabbi Marans -- who met Pope Francis on many occasions -- agreed.
"It was obvious that he was a pastor par excellence who never tired of greeting hundreds of people individually in a brief matter of time, and who had both affection for and special relationships with Jewish leaders," the rabbi reflected. "That can be traced back to the unique experiences he had as a post 'Nostra Aetate' priest, bishop, archbishop and cardinal in greater Buenos Aires."
Prior to the Second Vatican Council's 1965 "Nostra Aetate" (Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions), official Catholic-Jewish relations were not always encouraging. The Good Friday liturgy -- which was revised by St. John XXIII in 1959 to remove the word "faithless" ("perfidis") in reference to the Jews -- still included a petition asking God to rescue the Jewish people "from their darkness."
But "Nostra Aetate" declared antisemitism a sin against God, while affirming the validity of God's covenant with Moses and the Jewish people. It also called for greater respect and understanding between Catholics and Jews.
"For the first time, there ended up a dialogue," observed Rosensaft. "So the road toward the papacy of Francis was already going in the right direction."
There was, however, the occasional perceived stumble -- as when Francis seemed to side with both the Jewish and Palestinian people after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
Rosensaft said he naturally spoke out against the suffering and horror inflicted on Israel -- but didn't view Pope Francis' actions as contradictory.
"How can he not express empathy and care for the suffering of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza; for the deaths of Palestinian Muslim children in Gaza?" asked Rosensaft. "Empathy and caring for human beings has to be a total package, a total commitment."
"Clearly, Pope Francis came to this as a pastor," said Rabbi Marans. "But some of Francis' characterizations of the necessary Israeli military response against terrorists ... did not land well with many Jews, who wanted to see a greater distinction between Hamas and Israel's response to Hamas. And there were too many times when that was not clear."
As the first pope ever to set foot in Iraq -- in 2021 -- Francis was not fearful to tread in former war zones if it meant bringing a message of peace.
"Unlike earlier popes, Pope Francis has had deeper and more personal relations with Muslims and Muslim leaders," Zeki Saritoprak, professor of Islamic Studies and of Theology and Religious Studies at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio, told OSV News.
Saritoprak is a member of the National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue, and a Muslim co-chair for the Midwest Catholic Muslim Dialogue, both co-sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Islamic Society of North America.
"Certainly Pope John Paul II -- and to a lesser extent Pope Benedict XVI -- made steps toward better relationships between the Catholic Church and the Muslim world," said Saritoprak, who had an audience with Pope Francis. "But Pope Francis' personal style was something that I feel was new -- and something that future popes should continue to emulate."
Pope Francis had a 2019 meeting with Ahmed al-Tayeb -- the grand imam of Al-Azhar University in Egypt -- to co-sign a document on human fraternity and world peace.
The same humanitarian principles are also reflected in Pope Francis' 2020 encyclical "Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship," which stated, "Dialogue between the followers of different religions does not take place simply for the sake of diplomacy, consideration or tolerance." Quoting the bishops of India, the pope wrote, "The goal of dialogue is to establish friendship, peace and harmony, and to share spiritual and moral values and experiences in a spirit of truth and love."
"Nostra Aetate" spoke about the church's "high regard for the Muslims" and also changed the outlook for Catholic-Islamic relations. Pope Francis' interfaith proactivity, rooted in that teaching, impressed Maha Elgenaidi, founder and executive director of the Islamic Networks Group.
"He reaffirmed the teachings of 'Nostra Aetate' ... that recognize Muslims and Catholics as worshippers of the same merciful God," she noted.
"He took proactive steps to deepen relationships, whether through his visits to the UAE and Iraq, meeting with Palestinian leadership at the Vatican, his interfaith prayer gatherings, or his warm relationships with Muslim leaders like Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb of Al-Azhar," Elgenaidi explained. "His commitment to peace, social justice, and human fraternity set a high standard for Catholic-Muslim relations moving forward. While previous popes have attempted to engage in dialogue, Pope Francis emphasized lived solidarity."
Elgenaidi hopes the next pope will continue to deepen the Catholic-Muslim relationship, perhaps collaborating on critical social issues such as poverty, climate change and the refugee crisis.
"Pope Francis' emphasis on human fraternity offers a model for lasting cooperation," Elgenaidi said. "And I hope his vision continues to inspire generations to come."
Saritoprak agreed.
"I am very optimistic about the future of Catholic Muslim relations ... Pope Francis' legacy and the bonds he made between the Catholic Church and Muslims should endure," Saritoprak said. "When Catholics and Muslims come together in peace and understanding, all of humanity will benefit."
