Pope visits NY synagogue
Published: Saturday, 19 April 2008, 4:16PM
Pope Benedict XVI has made a historic visit to a synagogue in New York.
His stop on Friday was only the second time the former Hitler Youth member has visited a synagogue since becoming Pope and marked only the third recorded visit by a pontiff to a synagogue ever.
Pope John Paul II became the first pope to set foot in a synagogue in Rome in 1986.
Pope Benedict was received at the Park East synagogue by Holocaust survivor Rabbi Arthur Schneier.
On Friday, the pontiff praised the active role of members of Park East and other synagogues in New York.
Rabbi Arthur Schneier presented him with a ceremonial Seder plate, used to hold symbolic food items during the Passover meal. The food items retell the story of the exodus of the Jews out of Egypt. Passover begins on Saturday.
The rabbi thanked the Pope for coming, noting that the visit was "a reaffirmation of your outreach, goodwill, and commitment in enhancing Jewish-Catholic relations."
On Sunday Pope Benedict will celebrate a mass at the Yankee stadium in the Bronx, New York.
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