Ratzinger and that break with tradition in the relationship with Judaism

Before his appointment as pontiff, in a private kosher dinner organized by the community of S. Egidio, I had the opportunity to talk at length with then-cardinal Ratzinger. It was a difficult meeting in which the cardinal presented himself as a rigorous theologian, courteous but cold and detached, willing to listen but with rigid positions; the topic of conversation was obviously the relationship between Christians and Jews and there didn’t seem to be much enthusiasm.