Dani Dayan, the chairman of Yad Vashem (the World Holocaust Remembrance Center), met with Pope Francis on June 9.

“The very fact that I was granted this private audience with His Holiness Pope Francis — the first time a chairman of Yad Vashem has been given the opportunity to meet with a Pope in the Vatican — highlights the importance that the head of the Catholic Church places on Holocaust remembrance and the fight against anti-Semitism,” said Dayan.

Dayan characterized the Pope as a “friend” and “ally” in the fight against anti-Semitism, Vatican News reported.