Pope Leo XIV Reaffirms Church's Spiritual Bond with the People of Israel in Buenos Aires

A live orchestra played an Astor Piazzolla tango as religious leaders took their seats at San Martín Palace in Buenos Aires, waiting for the pope. It was a deliberate choice: Argentine music, with no tie to any one faith. Rabbi Isaac Sacca, who was in the room, understood the absence of religious elements as a gesture of respect toward every tradition present.

The gathering took place on Nov. 9 at the headquarters of Argentina's Foreign Ministry. Pope Leo XIV addressed about 100 religious leaders and used the occasion to say something that Jewish representatives said they had not expected. Citing the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, which met from 1962 to 1965 and shaped how the Church approaches the modern world, he said he wished to reaffirm the spiritual bond uniting the Church with the people of Israel. He also spoke of the Church's sincere respect for what is holy and true in different religious traditions.

Sacca, chief rabbi of the Sephardic Community of Buenos Aires and president of the youth organization Menora, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency the statement was a pleasant surprise, especially while antisemitism is resurfacing in Europe. He called it very meaningful to the Jewish people, and said the meeting was moving on several levels, with the religious communities that coexist peacefully in Argentina showing themselves as they are.

Rabbi Marcelo Polakoff, the World Jewish Congress commissioner for interreligious dialogue in Latin America, said hearing the words from Leo a few meters away was comforting. He also noted the phrasing, honoring the People of Israel, which he did not think was commonly used in Church documents. To him it conveyed closeness, and he saw Leo continuing the interreligious legacy of Francis, Benedict XVI and especially John Paul II.

Leo's wider theme was Argentina itself. He described its national identity as a melting pot of races, cultures and religions, shaped by Indigenous peoples and by immigrants who came over the centuries bringing their dreams and faith. First came Catholics, Protestants and Jews, he said, and later many others, who learned despite their differences to build families, communities and villages, blending their traditions with local customs.

Rabbi Ariel Stofenmacher, rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary and of the Isaac Abarbanel University Institute, linked the speech to Nostra Aetate, the 1965 Vatican document that recalibrated the Church's relations with other religions. He said the pope stressed strengthening ties with Judaism and the people of Israel, revisited the ideas behind Nostra Aetate and expressed gratitude for the spirit of brotherhood. In his view Leo is showing himself a global leader unafraid of difficult issues.

The pope had invited prominent figures from Argentina's Jewish community alongside rabbinical leaders, including representatives of AMIA, the main Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, and DAIA, the community's political umbrella organization. AMIA chief rabbi Eliahu Hamra said Leo described religions as guardians of human integrity, meaning each person's dignity in its spiritual, social and communal dimensions, and said those present were united in defending it. Polakoff pointed to Kishreinu, the document the World Jewish Congress presented in November 2022 as a Jewish response to Nostra Aetate, and called Leo an exceptional partner for continuing that work. The meeting ended with a minute of silence for world peace and victims of violence.

The event followed two others that day: a visit to a residential care facility for people with disabilities on the city's outskirts, and a Mass at Palermo Park attended by an estimated 2 million people. The four-day Argentina visit began Nov. 8 after a stop in Uruguay, and moved to Córdoba province on Tuesday. On Wednesday Leo plans a Mass in Luján before flying to Lima, Peru, the last stop of the South American tour.