The new pope studied under a pioneer of Jewish-Catholic relations during his seminary training in Chicago.
Cardinal Robert Prevost, elected as Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, was a student of Rev. John T. Pawlikowski, co-founder and longtime director of the Catholic Theological Union’s (CTU) Catholic-Jewish Studies Programme, who also served four terms on the board of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
More than four decades after Leo’s ordination as a priest, Pawlikowski recalled him as a “bright student” with an open mind.
In an interview after the pontiff’s election on Thursday, he said: “My experience of him was he’s a very open-minded person who’s very much in the context of Vatican II.”
Vatican II marked a shift in the Catholic Church’s approach to Judaism. Its landmark 1965 document, Nostra Aetate, declared that Jews were not responsible for the death of Jesus, helping to lay the groundwork for a new era of Catholic-Jewish relations.
It was during this post-Nostra Aetate period, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, that Leo studied for the priesthood under Pawlikowski.
At CTU, the new pope studied Catholic social teachings, and Jewish relations were relevant, according to Pawlikowski.
“I’ve always argued that antisemitism is something that has to be counted as part of the Catholic commitment to social justice and human dignity,” Pawlikowski said. “My work on Catholic social teaching did include always the issue of antisemitism.”
Despite this influence, the new pope has not been a prominent figure in Jewish-Catholic dialogue during his career, much of which was spent in Peru.
In his first address as Pope, Leo, who is considered a centrist, issued a call to open dialogue.
“Help us as well – help one another – to build bridges through dialogue, through encounter, uniting everyone to be one single people always in peace,” he said.
Unlike his predecessor, for whom the Vatican’s relations with Israel had become strained, the new pope does not appear to have commented publicly on the war in Gaza or on Israel.
Leo's roots in Chicago – a city with a large Jewish community – and his theological training under Pawlikowski have left experts hopeful for the future of Catholic-Jewish relations.
Dr Ed Kessler, a leading thinker on interfaith relations, Cambridge fellow, and founding president of the Woolf Institute, noted: “Pope Leo XIV has spent most of his priesthood in Peru, where there is a small Jewish community of approximately 2,000 people, mainly in the capital Lima.
“He will have had experience of Jewish-Christian dialogue in Chicago because he studied at Catholic Theological Union, under the direction of one of the leading US Catholic scholars of Jewish-Christian Relations, Rev John T Pawlikowski.”
Rabbi Noam Marans, the American Jewish Committee’s director of interreligious and intergroup relations, shared this sentiment: “He studied at CTU under John Pawlikowski and in the post-Nostra Aetate era, in the country where Catholic-Jewish relations is preeminent.”
Marans said in an interview that “an American pope bodes well for the future of Catholic-Jewish relations. More than anywhere in the world, the relationship between Catholics and Jews has flourished and set a gold standard in the United States.”
The American Jewish Committee said they “look forward to a close relationship with Pope Leo XIV as we continue to advance positive Catholic-Jewish relations for the benefit of Catholics, Jews, and all of humanity.”
President Isaac Herzog welcomed Leo with a statement from Jerusalem.
He sent “warmest wishes from the Holy City of Jerusalem,” and said he is looking forward “to enhancing the relationship between Israel and the Holy See, and strengthening the friendship between Jews and Christians in the Holy Land and around the world.”
“May your papacy be one of building bridges and understanding between all faiths and peoples. May we see the immediate and safe return of the hostages still held in Gaza, and a new era of peace in our region and around the world,” Herzog said.
Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a separate statement congratulating the first American Pope: “We look forward to working together to further strengthen the relationship between the Jewish state and the Holy See. We hope to welcome you soon to the Holy Land."
Meanwhile, a statement from the Hamas terror group expressed hope that Leo would follow the path of Pope Francis.
"We wish him success in fulfilling his spiritual and humanitarian mission amid the tragedies and disasters afflicting the world – foremost among them the ongoing brutal Zionist aggression against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
"We deeply value the courageous humanitarian positions expressed by the late Pope Francis, his repeated solidarity with the Palestinian people, and his rejection of the occupation and its repressive policies,” the terror group said.
