Pope warns of rise in anti-Semitism

David McHugh, Cologne

With the shrill sound of a ram's horn and a choir chanting in Hebrew "peace be with you", Benedict became only the second pope to visit a synagogue, praying and remembering Holocaust victims.

"Today, sadly, we are witnessing the rise of new signs of anti-Semitism and various forms of a general hostility toward foreigners," he said.

Benedict said progress had been made, but "much more remains to be done. We must come to know one another much more and much better".

He did not elaborate on his warning except to call for more vigilance, receiving loud applause from the audience after his remarks.

Earlier, Benedict stood quietly with his hands clasped during a Hebrew prayer before a memorial to the six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany.

Rabbi Netanel Teitlebaum called his visit "a step toward peace between all peoples".

The Pope underlined his commitment to continue in the path of his predecessor, John Paul II, who made the first papal visit to a synagogue in Rome in 1986 and improved relations between Catholics and Jews.

"Today I, too, wish to reaffirm that I intend to continue on the path toward improved relations and friendship with the Jewish people ," said Benedict, who did much of the theological groundwork for John Paul's outreach while serving as a Vatican official.

Outreach to Jews and Muslims is one of the themes of Benedict's first foreign trip since his election as Pope on April 19 in conjunction with the World Youth Day festival that has drawn over 300,000 young people to Cologne.

The German-born Pope did not discuss his own personal experience of World War II being unwillingly enrolled in the Hitler Youth as a teenager and deserting the German army at the end of the war. Benedict's visit appeared to have helped smooth over a dispute between the Vatican and Israel that arose after the Israeli Government faulted Benedict for not mentioning attacks on Israelis in a recent condemnation of terrorism. The Vatican responded with a terse statement asking the Israelis not to tell the Pope what to say.