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Pilgrims from Sardinia to visit Israel
Following meeting with Israeli ambassador to Vatican, Italian island's local archbishop plans to urge his believers to visit Holy Land in honor of Jewish state's 60th anniversary
Menachem Gantz
ROME – Hundreds of the world's rich and famous arriving at the Italian island of Sardinia on their luxurious yachts on an annual basis may soon discover that the island's residents prefer to tour a different country – Israel.
In honor of the State of Israel's 60th anniversary, local archbishop Sebastiano Sanguinetti plans to urge his believers to visit the Holy Land.
Israeli Ambassador to The Vatican Oded Ben Hur, who is about to complete a successful tenure in Rome, met with the island's senior church officials, who promised him that a first group of 300 pilgrims will leave for Israel just before the Jewish state's Independence Day.
L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican City's "semi-official" newspaper, gave the ambassador's statements singularly rare prominence and exposure.
"If the church believes in a dialogue and believes that this is the tool which can help interreligious understanding, it must encourage the pilgrimage to Israel," the paper wrote.
Ambassador Ben Hur added, "Sardinia is a model and a sparkle. We can hope for the arrival of one thousandth of the 1.25 billion Catholic believers in the world every year."
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