Pope Leo XIV has emphatically reaffirmed the Catholic Church's condemnation of anti-Semitism and its commitment to combatting it.

Over the past 60 years, all his predecessors on the chair of Saint Peter have condemned anti-Semitism in clear terms, Leo said at the traditional general audience in St Peter's Square on Wednesday: "And so I too confirm that the Church does not tolerate anti-Semitism and fights against it, on the basis of the Gospel itself."

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the historic conciliar declaration "Nostra Aetate" (In Our Time) in 1965, the pontiff recalled the document in his address.

In the declaration, the Vatican recognized for the first time the plurality of religions as part of God's plan of salvation, thus paving the way for dialogue with Jewish leaders.

Leo said that much had been achieved in Jewish-Catholic dialogue over the past six decades. At the same time, however, he acknowledged that there had been "misunderstandings, difficulties and conflicts" in the current phase. However, he said, interreligious dialogue had never come to a standstill.

"Even today, we must not allow political circumstances and the injustices of some to divert us from friendship, especially since we have achieved so much so far," Leo continued.