Pope Benedict XVI confirmed that he will visit a synagogue in Cologne next month. The visit to Germany will be Benedict’s first return to his homeland since he was elected to the papacy in April. According to details of the trip announced Wednesday by the Vatican, Benedict will visit the Cologne synagogue for an hour at noon on Aug. 19. It will be the first official visit by a pope to a synagogue since John Paul II’s historic visit to the main synagogue of Rome in 1986.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
