Pope Francis said several times that Jews were the "elder brothers" of Christians, repeating the words first uttered by John Paul during his historic visit to the synagogue 30 years ago.

The chief rabbi of Rome said that the papal visit is aimed at showing five decades of improving Christian-Jewish relations and interfaith harmony, at a time of global Islamic extremist violence. But he also said some recent Vatican developments "cannot be so appreciated by the Jewish community."

Seeking to improve Catholic-Jewish relations, bishops want the Vatican to revert to another version of the Good Friday prayer which is less offensive to Jews.