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Pope Francis has praised Jews in an unprecedented open letter to an atheist editor of Rome’s liberal newspaper "La Repubblica."

The letter was published on the front page of its September 11 edition, and acted as a response to editorials that had addressed the pontiff on issues of religion and faith.

Video courtesy of jn1.tv

The pope’s reply calls for a necessary and open dialogue with nonbelievers, whom he calls right, proper and precious.

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In response to questions regarding what should be said to Jews about the promise made to them by God, Pope Francis wrote that this is a question that radically challenges Christians, because Christians have rediscovered that the Jewish people are the holy root from which Jesus germinated.

The pope, who has close ties with Jewish people from his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires, says that Jews serve as an example for Christians.

He says that they point Christians to the fact that they are always waiting for the Lord’s return, and so must always be open to him and never take refuge in what they have already attained.

In June 2012 he said "a Christian cannot be an anti-Semite; to be a good Christian it is necessary to understand Jewish history and traditions."

Francis wished the Jewish community a happy new year and encouraged dialogue between different faiths.