On June 25, representatives of seven of Italy’s major religious traditions gathered at Rome’s Ara Pacis auditorium to sign a landmark interfaith accord. Titled “The Italian Way to Interreligious Dialogue: Religions in Public Space and for Social Cohesion,” the accord was presented as a “fundamental milestone” in consolidating the path established in 2023 with annual …
In the Jewish tradition, an Eruv (Hebrew for “mixture”) is a symbolic boundary that connects private and public spaces. This allows observant Jews to carry items such as house keys, prayer books, and baby strollers outside their homes on the Sabbath or the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The Eruv transforms a public neighborhood into …
On March 30, Israel backed down from its decision to deny the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, access to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Pizzaballa would have “full and immediate access” to the church, Christianity’s holiest site. The decision to deny Cardinal Pizzaballa access had been justified …
In 1965, the declaration Nostra Aetate (“In Our Time” in Latin) dramatically changed the Catholic Church’s approach to non-Christian religions, dedicating a specific section to Judaism. Antisemitism has no theological basis, the document declared. Sixty years later, where is interfaith dialogue headed and what can and should still be done? These were the themes of …
Alberto Melloni is one of the most influential historians of the Christian Church. He is a UNESCO Professor of Religious Pluralism at the University Sapienza of Rome and of History of Christianity at various Italian universities. An expert on Christian-Jewish relations, he outlined the characteristics of “new” antisemitism—a form of antisemitism full of anti-Judaism—in an …
This newly released publication contains 16 factsheets designed to help young readers learn about Judaism. The project, intended for use in schools, was presented in Rome on October 11. It is the result of ongoing collaboration between the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI)and the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI). Seven years after the initiative was …
The first interfaith dialogue festival in Gorizia, organized by five religious communities — Jewish, Catholic, Islamic, Buddhist, and Methodist — opened with a symbolic gesture. An olive tree was planted in Piazzale di Casa Rossa, a historic location that was a key border crossing point between the Italian town of Gorizia and the Slovenian town …
In Rome, many events are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the landmark Second Vatican Council declaration “Nostra Aetate” (In Our Time). “Nostra Aetate” significantly changed the Catholic Church’s relationship with non-Christian Religions, especially Judaism in the wake of the Holocaust. In these days of interfaith dialogue and debate, the Jewish world has been playing an …
Healing rifts in interreligious dialogue and relations with Israel, while renewing a shared commitment to fighting antisemitism. These are the issues on which the Jewish world looks with attention to the new Pope, Leo XIV. On May 8, the Italian Jewish world welcomed the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as pontiff of the Roman …
In a statement, the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities expressed its sorrow “at the sudden death of Pope Francis, despite his recent improvements in health, participating in the grief of all the faithful.” “His long pontificate, marked by the current Jubilee Year, has witnessed many epochal changes and world crises generating important reflections on …
Yaron Sideman, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See since September, is among those who had the opportunity to know Pope Francis closely and to discuss many sensitive topics with him. “I will remember him as a kind man, humble and affable, driven by a determination to do good for the humanity and the environment,” he …
“Behind the attack of October 7 is a long path, years and years of indoctrination in which religion was not used to bring something good into everyone’s life, but to spread hate and perpetrate a massacre. Up to that time, on the Israeli side, there was no plan for war against Gaza”. Noemi di Segni, …
“We are asking ourselves what use has been made of decades of Jewish-Christian dialogue, speaking of friendship and brotherhood, if, in reality, when Jews are facing extermination, instead of receiving closeness and understanding, they are presented with diplomatic acrobatics, political tightropes, and icy equidistance, which is certainly a distant stance, but not equally”. This was …
Hemos quedado para celebrar el Pésaj, por fin libres de reunirnos con nuestras familias y en grupos de referencia tras tres años de pandemia, con el entusiasmo y el sano trabajo para organizar la tradicional cena del Séder con todas las atenciones prescritas por ley divina, ley rabínica o ley de la casa. Y el …
Sixteen files to clarify some key points of Judaism, of its history, of Jewish life. Sixteen files aiming to promote an accurate portrayal of the Jewish world in textbooks and to fight and erase prejudices and stereotypes. “Sixteen files to get to know each other better” is a project addressing the field of education, jointly …
“Le judaïsme bénit le progrès technologique mais, comme on l’apprend de l’histoire du Golem, il tient fermement à un principe : c’est toujours l’homme qui contrôle la technologie et jamais l’inverse”. C’est pour cette raison que l’initiative “Rome Call for AI Ethics” est fondamentale, comme rabbi Eliezer Simha Weisz, membre du Conseil du Grand Rabbinat …
Dozens of meetings across Italy enlivened the 34th edition of the Day dedicated to the deepening and development of dialogue between Catholics and Jews that this year focused on the prophetic passage from Isaiah 40: “Comfort, comfort my people”. Rabbis, scholars, and members of the clergy will discuss this passage. The Italian Rabbinical Assembly in …
Among the most significant events of Ratzinger’s pontificate, there is the visit he made to the Great Synagogue of Rome in January 2010, marking only the second time that a pope has crossed the Tiber River to enter the primary Jewish place of worship in Rome. His visit was preceded by that which in 1986 …
Reactions and commotion for the death of Joseph Ratzinger all over the world. “In his brief but intense pontificate, Benedict XVI has left an important mark not only in his Church but the whole world” remarks, among others, the Rabbi of Rome Riccardo Di Segni. “The image of himself that he proposed – reads a …
The Union of the Italian Jewish Communities expresses its togetherness to Pope Francis, to the leaders of the Church, and to the entire Catholic world on the death of Pope Emeritus Joseph Ratzinger. A great figure of a spiritual leader, capable of leaving a profound mark with his work, which we also remember for the …