Pope praised for confronting anti-Semitism and terrorism head-on

POPE Benedict XVI won praise from Jews and respect from Muslims for his blunt warnings about the rise of anti-Semitism and terrorism in the world - issues that are likely to define his papacy and ones which he confronted head-on during his first foreign trip as pope.

Commentators also applauded Benedict for not hedging his words during his four-day visit to Cologne, Germany for World Youth Day.

The German-born Benedict became the second pontiff in history to enter a Jewish house of worship when he told Jewish leaders at a synagogue in Cologne on Friday that he would continue the ground-breaking path of improving Catholic-Jewish relations set out by Pope John Paul II.