Pope Leo sends High Holiday greetings to Rome chief rabbi

Pope Leo XIV sent greetings to Chief Rabbi of Rome Riccardo Di Segni ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, the Vatican said on Friday.

“I hope that these celebrations may be an occasion of abundant blessings from the Almighty and a source of joy,” the pope told Segni and “the entire dear Jewish community.”

“May the arrival of Rosh Hashanah bring with it the promise of peaceful renewal and the sweetness of a propitious beginning,” he wrote. “May the sacred silence of Yom Kippur be an occasion for peace and inner light. May the festival of Sukkot be filled with joy, gratitude and fellowship.”

The pope concluded with the hope that the Jewish community and the Vatican “may grow in mutual friendship, in our city of Rome and throughout the world.”