Pope plans visit to Rome synagogue
September 17, 2009
In a message to Rome's Jewish community, Pope Benedict XVI has indicated that he hopes to visit the city's synagogue. Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni-- to whom the Pontiff had sent a telegram of best wishes for the Jewish high holidays-- welcomed the Pope's plan, saying that a papal visit would be "significant and important." No date has been set for the event, but the Pope is expected to visit sometime this fall.
Pope John Paul II set a historic precedent in 1986 when he visited the synagogue in Rome. Pope Benedict has visited synagogues in Cologne and in New York, but he will be making his first visit to the Rome congregation.
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