Elio Toaff, rabbi who hosted first pope visit to synagogue, dies at 99
Elio Toaff, the chief rabbi of Rome for half a century and a pivotal player in Christian-Jewish reconciliation, has died at the age of 99.
Toaff, who a spokesman said died on Sunday night, was Rome's chief rabbi in 1986 when then-Pope John Paul II made the first visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to a synagogue in nearly 2,000 years.
"We gratefully remember this man of peace and dialogue who received Pope John Paul II during his historic visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome," Pope Francis told a visiting Jewish delegation at the Vatican on Monday.
It was during that visit to Rome's temple that John Paul made the now-famous remark calling Jews "our beloved elder brothers", marking a milestone in Catholic-Jewish relations.
