“Yeah, I’m wearing a yarmulke… SO?”

Pope Francis on Monday extended his wishes to Rome’s chief rabbi and Jews worldwide in a gesture aimed at strengthening relations between the two religions, as the Jewish world marks the beginning of the holiday of Passover.

In his message to Rabbi Riccardo di Segni, the pope said he hoped “that the Almighty, who freed his people from slavery in Egypt by guiding them to the Holy Land, continues to free them from all evil and accompany them with his blessing”.

“I ask you to pray for me, as I assure you my prayer, confident of being able to deepen the bonds of mutual respect and friendship,” he said in the statement made public by Rome’s Jewish community.

A large delegation of rabbis attended the pontificate’s inaugural mass on March 19, underscoring the strong ties between the two religions.

Under his predecessors, late pope John Paul II and “pope emeritus” Benedict XVI — who stunned the world by becoming the first pope to resign in 700 years — Jews and Catholics were also considered as brothers “in faith”.

In contrast, the Muslim delegation was represented only by lower-rank figures at Pope Francis’s inauguration mass, illustrating the strained relationship between the two faiths.

Last week however, the pope called for the Roman Catholic Church to “intensify” its dialogue with Islam, echoing hopes in the Muslim world for better ties with the Vatican during his reign.

From Arutz Sheva

Full text of the telegram

Pope Francis I was the archbishop of Buenos Aires when he met with Claudio Epelman, executive director of the Latin American Jewish Congress, in 2012

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentinian cardinal who was elected pope this week and has taken the name Francis I, is said to have a good relationship with Argentinian Jews.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio, 76, attended Rosh Hashanah services at the Benei Tikva Slijot synagogue in September 2007.

(…) Israel Singer, the former head of the World Jewish Congress, said he spent time working with Bergoglio when the two were distributing aid to the poor in Buenos Aires in the early 2000s, part of a joint Jewish-Catholic program called Tzedaka.

(…) Last November, Bergoglio hosted a Kristallnacht memorial event at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral with Rabbi Alejandro Avruj from the NCI-Emanuel World Masorti congregation.

(…) “The Latin American Jewish Congress has had a close relationship with Jorge Bergoglio for several years,” said Claudio Epelman, executive director of the Latin American Jewish Congress.

From jweekly.com

Rome’s chief rabbi attends inauguration, along with more than a dozen other Jewish representatives.

Pope Francis gave a ‘shout-out’ to Jews during the open-air Mass that formally installed him as pontiff.

Francis began his homily Tuesday by greeting the Catholic dignitaries and faithful in the huge crowd that crammed St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding area. He thanked “representatives of the other Churches and ecclesial Communities, as well as the representatives of the Jewish community and the other religious communities, for their presence.”

Among the crowd were Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni; Riccardo Pacifici, the president of the Rome Jewish community; and more than a dozen other Jewish representatives.

It is said to be the first time that Rome’s chief rabbi has attended a papal inauguration.

Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, had invited Di Segni to his inauguration on April 24, 2005, but Di Segni did not attend because it was the first day of Passover.

Benedict also singled out Jews in his welcoming remarks, greeting “with great affection … you, my brothers and sisters of the Jewish people, to whom we are joined by a great shared spiritual heritage, one rooted in God’s irrevocable promises.”

From Ha’aretz

Homily I:

III

(1) Many, I know, respect the Jews and think that their present way of life is a venerable one. This is why I hasten to uproot and tear out this deadly opinion. […]

When God forsakes a people, what hope of salvation is left? When God forsakes a place, that place becomes the dwelling of demons.

(2) But at any rate the Jews say that they, too, adore God. God forbid that I say that. No Jew adores God!

Who says so? The Son of God says so. For he said: “If you were to know my Father, you would also know me. But you neither know me nor do you know my Father”.

Could I produce a witness more trustworthy than the Son of God?

(3) If, then, the Jews fail to know the Father, if they crucified the Son, if they thrust off the help of the Spirit, who should not make bold to declare plainly that the synagogue is a dwelling of demons?

God is not worshipped there. Heaven forbid! From now on it remains a place of idolatry. But still some people pay it honor as a holy place.

- Excerpt from Adversus Judaeos by St. John Chrysostom

Read the rest at orthodox-christianity.com

- Canon LXV of the Holy Apostles