Pope Francis. Photo: Casa Rosada/Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Pope Francis has strongly condemned the actions of the ultra-traditionalist Catholic splinter during a Kristallnacht memorial service, saying that “aggression cannot be an act of faith.”

During a special memorial ceremony on Nov. 12 attended by Catholic, Jewish and Protestant leaders in Buenos Aires to mark the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, a small group of protestors from the ultra-traditionalist Catholic group Society of St. Pius X disrupted the proceedings, shouting “followers of false gods must be kept out of the sacred temple.”

Pope Francis told a group of Latin American religious leaders visiting the Vatican that preaching intolerance “is a form of militancy that must be overcome.”

Claudio Epelman, executive director of Latin American Jewish Congress, praised Pope Francis’ comments.

“With this meeting, the Pope has once again shown his strong, personal commitment to building bridges between religions and to working together with all of us to secure peace,” Edelman said in a statement.