Riccardo Di Segni, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, confirmed that Pope Francis will soon visit the Synagogue of Rome.
In an interview with Vatican Insider, Rabbi Di Segni visited the Holy Father on Monday and spoke with him for 30 minutes. “I renewed the invitation to the Pope to come to the synagogue and he immediately responded yes. All that’s left is to establish the date of Francis’ visit to the major Temple,” he said.
During the meeting, the Rabbi said that the discussions revolved around the main issues of today. “Francis made a profound political analysis of the dynamics that cause the arrival of immigrants to the Italian coast. We shared the same worries and pain for what is occurring in the Sicilian channel. The Pope is aware of the difficulty of coping with a complex situation,” he noted.
The Pope, Di Segni added, “has shown himself attentive and helpful to the challenges. I told him two private stories, one of which was about my family.”
The audience was originally due to take place last week during the visit of a delegation of European Rabbis, but Di Segni was unable to attend following the death of his predecessor, Elio Toaff. (J.A.E.)