World Jewish News

Pope Benedict XVI met with a small international delegation of Jewish leaders in Rome on Wednesday.

Pope Benedict XVI met with a small international delegation of Jewish leaders in Rome on Wednesday.
Rabbi David Rosen, the American Jewish Committee's Jerusalem-based International Director of Interreligious Affairs, was among those present at the meeting.
Rosen, who had met on several occasions with the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, told The Jerusalem Post the pope "was very warm" in greeting the delegation.
"Audiences with the pope are not an opportunity for lengthy conversations, you know, but... after having welcomed him to Jerusalem at a conference in 1994, I said that we hoped to welcome him back to Jerusalem as pope. He smiled and said, 'Yes, thank you.' I don't think we can take that as watertight guarantee, but... his response was very warm."
Rosen added: "You could see that he had taken to the role of pope. There was a sense that he had really adapted to the grandeur of the position. He shows a graciousness that is impressive."
"Actually," Rosen said, "he looks as if he's enjoying the position."
In addition to Rosen and two other AJC representatives, rabbis from Europe, the United States and Latin America took part in the meeting. It had been planned almost a year ago, Rosen said ? but was intended for Pope John Paul II, who died on April 2.

Источник: jpost.com