Rabbis pray for the pope
160 rabbis assembled at the Vatican on January 18, to pray for the pope. “It is the first time ever, that rabbis from all over the world, representatives from all branches of Judaism are gathered together at the Vatican in order to thank John Paul II and the Church for what they have done to build bridges of understanding and mutual respect between Jews and Catholics,” said Rabbi Jack Bemporad, a teacher at the Angelicum in Rome.
A yellow and white kippa the Vatican colors was presented to John Paul II by the rabbis, who sang and prayed for the pope, a “great miracle-worker in relations between Catholics and Jews”, according to Jack Bemporad.
The pope, referring to the declaration of Vatican II, Nostra Aetate, said that it had “contributed to strengthening Judaeo-Christian dialogue”. The pope ended his speech by invoking peace in Hebrew, Shalom aleichem and the divine benediction.
The meeting was organized at the request of the Pave the Way foundation, which “gathers men and women of good faith, beyond any religious belief to remove with determination all obstacles which may prevent their meeting” (sic). Its founder, the American Gary Krupp, stressed that the pope had fought for 26 years for this goal. “The least we could do was to humbly thank him for what he has done for the world’s Jewish people.”
At the end of the audience, three rabbis read biblical prayers for the intentions of John Paul II, standing before his throne. Three cantors then intoned other prayers, while all the participants at the meeting shook hands with John Paul II.
