Pope Benedict XVI - good for the Jews.

Pope Benedict XVI met in Rome on Thursday with some two dozen delegates from the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations – an umbrella body of major Jewish organizations – for a three-hour audience described by participants as "remarkable"....

Rabbi David Rosen, international director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, called the meeting "very remarkable" in its tone.

"Even at private audiences, it's a highly choreographed event," said Rosen, who had met with the previous pope nearly a dozen times. "But [Benedict XVI] basically made it one of the most informal private audiences I've ever experienced. It was as fraternal as one could imagine. The atmosphere was warm beyond my greatest expectations."