Posted on 07/02/2014 1:11:43 PM PDT by Welchie25
Pope Francis telephoned Rome’s chief rabbi to personally express his sadness over the murder of three kidnapped Israeli teens whose bodies were found June 30 in Hebron, West Bank.
Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni said the pope phoned him at home late in the afternoon July 1 and said: “Good evening. This is Pope Francis. I wanted to personally express my sadness for the death of the three youths.”
The rabbi told Rome’s Il Messaggero newspaper he was surprised since the Vatican press office had already published a strong statement condemning the murders of the boys who were kidnapped in mid-June and conveying the pope’s condolences.
During their phone conversation, he said, the pope asked if there was anything he could do.
“It was an informal conversation, very human. He’s an extraordinary man,” the rabbi said.
Rabbi Di Segni also told Il Messaggero that he had been working with Vatican officials to arrange a meeting at the Vatican between Pope Francis and the families of the three kidnapped boys as part of the effort to generate international pressure for their release.
Pope Francis told the rabbi his willingness to meet the families and embrace the boys’ grieving mothers had not changed.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicreview.org ...
Very nice.
Very thoughtful ... but I’m sure that, for some reason, many will think it was totally wrong for him to do this.
I wish I knew someone in Israel I could call and say, “I’m terribly saddened by this. Can I do anything for you ... flowers, cookies, walk your dog?” just as I would for someone in my neighborhood.
Perhaps it should have been an apology, instead, for whatever encouragement his naïveté about Islam gave to the murderers.
I’m just sayin’.
There might be a connection but if there is one, it isn’t obvious to me. If Muslims do not listen to Catholics then why should they care about the pope with respect to how they deal with Israel?
This is the most “evangelical” pope that has been seen in I don’t know how long. Alternates between thrilling us and shocking us.
I don’t think there’s a direct connection with this incident. I just think that all the naïveté about Islam displayed by the pope and political leaders is making Islamic terrorists feel emboldened.
We give a basket from Zabar’s when there’s a death in a friend’s family. I learned this when a Jewish friend sent me a huge one when my father died!
You can go to an Israeli English-language paper and write your condolences in a comments section. I know I’m touched when I read something nice about America in a foreign newspaper.
Oh, that's a good idea. I remember doing that through some FR link when the Israeli astronaut was killed in the space shuttle crash.
I posted on Disqus “RIP to these three young men. May their memory be eternal, and may they be avenged soon.”
Can you give a link please?
And how are you, anyway?!
http://twitchy.com/2014/07/01/israel-mourns-three-murdered-teens-emotional-netanyahu-speaks-at-joint-funeral-photos/
I am fine, thanks.
That doesn’t seem to have helped! Maybe I’ll try U.S. Mail to the Israeli Embassy, on my good paper with my name on.
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