Pope Benedict sends holiday wishes to Italian Jews;
looks forward to synagogue visit soon
Rome's Great Synagogue is directly on the north bank of the Tiber opposite Isola Tiberina, the island on the river where St. Bartholomew Church and the Fatebenefratelli Hospital are located; right photo shows John Paul II giving his address during his 1986 visit to the synagogue.
Rome, Sept. 17 (dpa) - Pope Benedict XVI indicated Thursday he will visit Rome's main Jewish house of worship after a series of Jewish religious commemorations that are set to end on October 10.
The German-born Pontiff expressed "joy" at the prospect of visiting Rome's Great Synagogue, in a telegram of good wishes to the city's Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni ahead of the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkoth.
[In 2009 Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) begins at sundown on Friday September 18 and ends at nightfall on Sunday September 20; Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) begins at sundown on Sunday September 27 and ends at nightfall on Monday September 28; and Sukkot (the 7-day Feast of Tabernacles) starts at sunsent Friday, October 2, and ends on Friday at sunset on Friday, Oct. 9.]
Benedict, in the telegram, said the purpose of the visit - which would be his first since his 2005 election as Pope - "is to manifest my personal closeness and that of the whole Catholic Church," according to the text published by the ANSA news agency.
Vatican officials confirmed that the visit was being planned, but said no precise date has been set.
In 1986, Benedict's predecessor, the late John Paul II, made the first known visit by a modern-day Pope to a Jewish house of worship when he visited Rome's Great Synagogue.
Earlier this year, Benedict's decision to lift the excommunication of four ultra-traditionalist clerics from the rebel Society of Saint Pius X, including one who, it later emerged, is a Holocaust denier, strained relations with Jews.
The situation improved when Benedict subsequently admitted mistakes had been made in handling the case of the rebel bishops, as well as his insistence that members of Saint Pius X fully accept Vatican teachings on good relations with Judaism.
The Great Synagogue was built in 1904.
[And how can the reporter and editor overlook saying that this would be Benedict XVI's third visit to a synagogue since he became Pope? He visited the Synagogue in Cologne in August 2005 and Park East Synagogue in New York City in April 2008.]
Here's how the Jewish news agency reported this.
Pope will visit Rome synagogue
ROME, Sept. 17 (JTA) -- Pope Benedict XVI said he would visit the main synagogue in Rome after the High Holidays.
In Rosh Hashanah greetings to Rome's Jewish community released Thursday by the office of Rome's chief rabbi, the Pope said he looked forward "with joy" to the visit, which he said was motivated by "my personal nearness and that of the whole Catholic Church" to the Jewish community.
In his message the Pope invoked "abundant blessings" and "constant encouragement in the deep commitment to promote justice, harmony and peace."
Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni called the message "significant and important."
The announcement that the Pope was planning to visit the Great Synagogue of Rome was not a surprise. In March, the president of the Rome Jewish community had said the Pope would visit the synagogue this fall.
Benedict has visited synagogues in Germany and the United States as pope, but his visit to the Rome synagogue would be the first papal visit there since the historic visit by Pope John Paul II in 1986. That visit marked the first time a reigning pontiff had entered a synagogue.
The online service of
has provided the full text of the Pope's telegram,
made public by Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, and translated here:
This year once again, on the oocasion of Rosh Ha Shana 5770, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, I gladly express my most heartfely wishes to you and the Jewish community of Rome.
Even as I hope that these feasts may be a reason for common holy joy. For all Jews, I invoke the Eternal for his copious blessings and constant encouragement in the generous commitment to promote justice, concord and peace.
I renew to you my cordial friendship and look forward with joy to my visit, after your feasts, to your community and to the synagogue, inspired by the sincere desire to manifest my personal closeness and that of the entire Catholic Church.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 18/09/2009 00:29]