'I trust God to help continue dialogue'

VATICAN CITY - Jewish leaders praised Pope Benedict's swift and firm commitment to follow in his predecessor's path of Catholic-Jewish reconciliation, saying it was "a very powerful signal" for the future.

"I trust in God to help me continue the dialogue and strengthen the collaboration with the sons and daughters of the Jewish people," Benedict said

in a message to Rome's Jewish community on Thursday night, only two days after his election.

"This was a pleasant surprise because of the speed with which the new Pope wanted to send such an important message of continuity," Rome's Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni told Reuters Friday.

"I think this will send a very powerful signal to Catholics around the world," he said. "I really did not have any doubts about continuity because this Pope was always side by side with John Paul on matters of doctrine," Di Segni said.

Papal commitment

John Paul was the first Pope to visit Nazi concentration camps and repeatedly told Catholics that anti-Semitism was a sin against God.

"It was something special for the new Pope to go out of his way to send his message so quickly," Rabbi David Rosen, who heads inter-faith relations for the

American Jewish Committee, told Reuters from Jerusalem.

Rosen said the new Pope's commitment to good relations with Jews was rooted in his life in Germany, where he grew up under the rule of Adolf Hitler and saw anti-Semitism first hand.

"Pope Benedict XVI is truly committed to the struggle against anti-Semitism and prejudice and he has said this so many times, reflecting his own background under this heinous evil and understanding its potency," Rosen said.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has also recognised Ratzinger's anti-Nazi roots.

"The new Pope, like his predecessor, was deeply influenced by the events of World War Two. As a child, Pope Benedict XVI grew up in an anti-Nazi family. Nonetheless, he was forced to join the Hitler Youth movement," a spokesman for the center said this week.

Perhaps a visit?

Meanwhile, Rome's Chief Rabbi, said he hoped the new Pope would visit the capital's synagogue just across the River Tiber from the Vatican.

"Let's give him time to get settled," he said. "It will depend on the new Pope's style."