(JTA) — Pope Francis condemned anti-Semitism during a meeting with representatives of the international Jewish community at the Vatican.

“Because of our commons roots, a true Christian cannot be anti-Semitic,” Francis said on Monday at a meeting with a delegation of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations. He added that Catholic Church “firmly condemns hatred, persecution and all manifestations of anti-Semitism.”

The International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, or IJCIC, founded by several international Jewish organizations, is the Vatican’s dialogue partner with world Jewry and maintains relations with the Vatican’s Commission on Religious Relations with the Jews, the Orthodox Christian Church, the World Council of Churches, and other international religious bodies.

While Francis has met with several Jewish leaders since becoming pope, Monday’s meeting was the first time he has spoken with an official group of representatives of Jewish organizations and communities, he said.

He reiterated during the meeting that the 1965 declaration ‘NostraAetate’ remained the key point of reference for Catholic relations with the Jewish people.  The declaration stresses the religious bond shared by Jews and Catholics, reaffirms the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people, and calls for a halt to attempts to convert Jews.

“Pope Francis is a very good friend of the Jewish People and we rejoice in the fact that he will continue to advance the path of his predecessors in deepening the Catholic-Jewish relationship even further,” said Rabbi David Rosen, American Jewish Committee’s director of International Interreligious Affairs. Representatives of the Rabbinical Council and the World Jewish Congress also were in attendance.