(JTA) — A Long Island, New York bishop visited a local Holocaust memorial center in the wake of several anti-Semitic hate attacks in the area.

Bishop John Barres, the head of the Diocese of Rockville Center since January, on Tuesday visited the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County in Glen Cove, New York.

He was accompanied by other church officials, and met by Holocaust survivors and staff and volunteers of the Holocaust center.

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#DRVC’s @BishopBarres visits the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County (HMTC). pic.twitter.com/1zyO6rPsge

— Diocese of RVC (@RVCDiocese) September 26, 2017

The visit is an opportunity to strengthen the bond between the church and the Jewish community, the bishop said.

“A deep goal is to continue the beautiful friendship with Jewish people on Long Island,” he told CBS New York.

The visit follows several anti-Semitic incidents in Nassau County, including swastikas spray painted inside a local high school.

During his visit the bishop met with Holocaust survivor Gloria Gantz, 78, who was hidden from the Nazis by a Catholic Polish neighbor.

At the end of his tour of the center the Bishop said it renewed his ambition to help protect minority groups under attack. “We need to regard the dignity of every human life,” he told CBS.

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