St. John Paul II Became First Pope in History to Visit a Synagogue 37 Years Ago | EWTN News Nightly

About this sermon

37 years ago, for the first time in history a pope visited a synagogue. On April 13, 1986, St. John Paul II visited the synagogue in Rome. It was the first time a pope crossed the threshold of the Great Temple, making a gesture that his successors would later repeat. The Chief Rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, welcomed St. John Paul II expressing "lively satisfaction" with the visit, describing it as a "gesture destined to go down in history." In his speech, St. John Paul II explained how the Jewish religion was in a way "intrinsic" to the Catholic religion. "We therefore have relations with you that we do not have with any other religion. You are our beloved brothers and in a certain way one could say our elder brothers," the then pope affirmed. For many Jews, Karol Wojtyla remains the pontiff who did the most to initiate fruitful Jewish-Christian dialogue. He had had many Jewish friends in his Polish youth, and his memory had been forever marked not only by Communism but also by the tragedy of World War II and the deportation of Israelites to Nazi concentration camps, especially Auschwitz, which stood on Polish territory. EWTN News Vatican Correspondent, Colm Flynn, tells us more about this anniversary and the other pontiffs who have repeated the same gesture. ------------ EWTN News Nightly provides the latest news and analysis from a Catholic perspective. Join host Tracy Sabol, our Capitol Hill, White House and Rome Correspondents, as well as many other diverse guests daily, to get the latest from the U.S. and the Vatican on topics regarding our Catholic faith and interests. ------------- EWTN News Nightly airs on EWTN weekdays at 6pm & 9pm ET. ------------ Don't miss an episode of EWTN New Nightly. Get updates here: https://www.ewtn.com/tv/shows/ewtn-news-nightly ------------- Sign up today to receive the EWTN News Nightly newsletter: https://www.ewtn.com/enn ------------- Follow EWTN News Nightly on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ewtnnewsnightly Twitter: https://twitter.com/EWTNNewsNightly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ewtnnewsnightly/ ------------- Subscribe to EWTN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/EWTN ------------- You can support the EWTN News mission: https://bit.ly/3qDR1qf