Looks to Advance Catholic-Jewish Ties

B’nai B’rith President Robert Spitzer and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International—the world’s oldest and most widely known Jewish communal organization, with a presence across six continents—extends its warm wishes to our Catholic partners and friends around the world on the election of Pope Leo XIV.

The new Pope, until this afternoon Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, is the first Catholic pontiff to be elected from the United States—where B’nai B’rith was founded in 1843 and is headquartered—and previously served in Peru, a predominantly Catholic country where B’nai B’rith has a longstanding chapter.

B’nai B’rith is profoundly committed to interreligious cooperation, dialogue and harmony, and has been at the forefront of strengthening Catholic-Jewish ties globally, at all levels, for decades.

“We congratulate Pope Leo XIV and all our Catholic partners on this historic occasion,” said B’nai B’rith President Robert Spitzer and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin. “We look forward to continuing to work extremely closely with the Catholic Church and community during this new papacy, at a time of manifold common challenges.”

David J. Michaels, B’nai B’rith’s director of United Nations and intercommunal affairs, added, “The Catholic-Jewish friendship is indispensable—and its flourishing over the past 60 years in particular can serve as a model for reconciliation and vital interreligious engagement. We affirm our commitment to this bond and hope to engage with Pope Leo XIV, as we have his predecessors.”

B’nai B’rith, distinguished by a dynamic presence in Rome, met on numerous occasions with the recently departed Pope Francis, and stands ready to further strengthen the Catholic-Jewish relationship during this new pontificate.