Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the Archbishop of Vienna who is considered second-in-line to Pope Francis, gave a special interview to Arutz Sheva at the sidelines of a convention of the Conference of European Rabbis in Vienna.

Schönborn began by calling Jews and Catholics in Austria “neighbors” and “friends,” noting that “it’s less than half-a-kilometer between the synagogue and the cathedral (in Vienna), and that’s not only geographical it’s also spiritual.”

Regarding European hostility to Israel, he said, “I don’t think you will hear from the Catholic church such voices. We have such a good and close relation to not only to the Jewish people, but especially to the state of Israel.”

“There are political tendencies in Europe…and it’s good to stand up against them, (which is) what we try to do, but we have only one voice but I hope that voice is heard,” said Schönborn.

In a biting comment on the BDS movement seeking to boycott the Jewish state, the Cardinal said, “I think it is not only false, it’s stupid.”