This letter was sent by Pope Francis on Feb. 2 to Karma Ben Johanan, who teaches at the department of comparative religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Ben Johanan was the coordinator of the open letter to the pope from more than 400 Jewish rabbis and scholars last November.

Dear brothers and sisters,

We are experiencing a moment of great travail. Wars and divisions are increasing all over the world. We are truly, as I said some time ago, in the midst of a sort of “piecemeal world war”, with serious consequences on the lives of many populations.

Unfortunately, even the Holy Land has not been spared this pain, and since October 7 it too has been cast into a spiral of unprecedented violence. My heart is torn at the sight of what is happening in the Holy Land, by the power of so much division and so much hatred.
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We write as Jewish scholars, religious leaders, and long-time practitioners in Jewish-Christian dialogue, in Israel, America, and Europe, to remind our brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church of “the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham’s stock” (Nostra Aetate #4) in a time of distress and anguish for Jews all over the world.
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Patriarchs and heads of Churches in Jerusalem have expressed their gratitude to Jordan’s King Abdullah II for telling the UN General Assembly about Christians in Jerusalem and his promise to help preserve the city’s Christian identity.

The Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant leaders in a statement said they “express our utmost gratitude and appreciation” to the king “for his true and honest description of the Christian reality” in the Holy Land, especially in Jerusalem and said they applauded him for his “public commitment to protect our communities’ historical and legal status quo, thus preserving our safety and future”.
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