So we suggested to the pope and the prefect (of the library) to do a program" that taps into "this absolute richness that the Vatican has here." After seeing the collection, Rabbi Stofenmacher thought, "we should do more. "So he graciously agreed," the rabbi said. When Rabbi Stofenmacher led a delegation from the rabbinical seminary to visit Rome in December, "the pope asked us what we wanted to do specifically" during their visit "and I said I wanted to look at the manuscripts" in the library "because it is our heritage." The rector at the time was also the pope's good friend, Rabbi Abraham Skorka. The future pope, "Cardinal Jorge (Bergoglio) was very well-known to us at the seminary," which is an important center for Jewish academic and spiritual formation in Latin America, he said. The unique initiative came about thanks to the generosity of Pope Francis, Rabbi Ariel Stofenmacher, rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires, told Catholic News Service at the program's launch at the library. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)Īrchbishop Angelo Zani, Vatican archivist and librarian, said the Vatican Library, which is open to qualified scholars worldwide, is a place of encounter and dialogue in line with Pope Francis' emphasis on creating a more fraternal world through education and by offering places for different cultures to come together. The scholar-students of different backgrounds and faiths will follow lectures online and in person by preeminent Jewish and Christian experts, and study together to share and grow in their spiritual and academic interests, he said.Īrchbishop Angelo Zani, Vatican archivist and librarian, left, speaks with Claudio Pszemiarower, president of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, before they speak at an event in the Barberini hall of the Vatican Library July 19, 2023. Launching the start of the program at a news conference in the library's Barberini hall July 19, Claudio Pszemiarower, president of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, called the joint initiative between the Vatican and the seminary "historic." Some 20 Jewish and Christian scholars began a three-month hybrid course in mid-July at the Vatican Library to dig into more than 1,000 years of teachings contained in more than 800 ancient Hebrew manuscripts from the 9th to 16th centuries housed in its collections.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - From a dark past of once allowing and ordering the censoring, banning and burning of the Talmud and other Hebrew texts, the Vatican has deepened its decades of fruitful dialogue and cooperation with Jewish leaders with a new interfaith study program.
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