The Vatican for the first time invited a rabbi to speak at its World Synod of Bishops.
The Oct. 6 address by Shear-Yashuv Cohen, the chief rabbi of Haifa and the co-chair of the Israeli-Vatican Dialogue Commission, marks the first time that such an invitation was extended to a non-Christian. Cohen will lead a one-day discussion of the Scriptures.
The three-week synod ends Oct. 26.
Cohen told the Catholic News Service that the invitation “brings with it a message of love, coexistence and peace for generations.” He added, “We see in [the] invitation a kind of declaration that [the Church] intends to continue with the policy and doctrine established by Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II, and we appreciate very deeply this declaration.”
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