Photo ~ The pope met Monday with Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) -- which represents Jewish communities outside Israel -- to discuss the ban, among other issues.
Pope Francis has ordered an investigation into a Polish ban on the ritual kosher slaughter of animals, the president of the World Jewish Congress said Monday.
Ritual slaughter, including traditional Jewish kosher and Muslim halal practices, has been banned in Poland since January 1 after the country's Constitutional Court deemed it incompatible with animal-rights law.
The Jewish and Muslim communities each number around 20,000 to 30,000 people in Poland, a country of some 38 million people.
European Union rules on the slaughter of livestock are designed to minimize suffering for animals when they are killed, but religious groups are exempted from a requirement that animals be stunned before death.
Kosher and halal slaughter require an animal be killed by slitting its throat.