In remembrance of Holocaust victims, Pope Leo calls for end to antisemitism

Pope Leo called for an end to antisemitism worldwide, marking the annual commemoration of the Holocaust with a prayer for a world without prejudice or racism.

Joshua McElwee/Reuters

28 January 2026 at 13:00:25

Pope Leo XIV speaks during the weekly general audience at the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, January 28, 2026.

Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

VATICAN CITY - Pope Leo called on Wednesday for an end to antisemitism worldwide, marking the annual commemoration of the Holocaust with a prayer for a world without prejudice or racism.

"On this annual occasion of painful remembrance, I ask the Almighty for the gift of a world with no more antisemitism and, with no more prejudice, oppression, or persecution of any human being," the pope said during his weekly audience at the Vatican.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, appealed to world leaders "to always remain vigilant, so that the horror of genocide may never again fall upon any people".

International Holocaust Remembrance Day, an annual commemoration established by the United Nations, was marked on Tuesday.

Relations between the Catholic Church and Judaism have improved in recent decades, after centuries of animosity.

Leo, like his predecessor Pope Francis, has condemned antisemitism several times since becoming the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church last May.

-Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Cristina Carlevaro and Gareth Jones/Reuters