Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, on September 22, 2025, to express his wishes to the city's Jewish community on the occasion the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, which take place in sequence at the end of September and beginning of October this year.
On the occasion of the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, the Pontiff sent his best wishes and prayed for "the gift of peace."
“May God, in his infinite mercy, grant us the gift of peace and the unwavering desire to promote it always,” wrote the head of the Catholic Church.
"On the occasion of the upcoming celebrations of Rosh Hashanah 5786 [the New Year according to the Hebrew calendar, ed.], Yom Kippur [the Day of Atonement, ed.], and Sukkot [the Feast of Tabernacles, ed.], I would like to express my warmest wishes to you and to the entire Jewish population of Rome," Pope Leo XIV wrote in his message.
He said he remembered “with gratitude” the presence of the Chief Rabbi at the Mass inaugurating his Petrine ministry on May 18 in St. Peter's Square.
He invoked “the Eternal One” to “deepen the friendship between us, in the city of Rome and in the world.”
Leo XIV concluded by praying for “the gift of peace and the unwavering desire to promote it always.”
The prayer for peace comes amid the Pope's repeated appeals for a solution to the situation in Gaza.
On Sunday, during the Angelus, Pope Leo XIV spoke out against the “forced exile” of the Palestinian population of Gaza as the Israeli army continues its military operations.
Three popes have visited the Great Synagogue of Rome
The Jewish community in Rome is the oldest in Europe. The first relations between the city and the Jewish people date back to the 2nd century BC. In the 16th century, the Jews of Rome were forced to live in a ghetto by Pope Paul IV Carafa. The ghetto lasted until 1870.
During World War II, Rome's Jewish community was particularly affected. During the Nazi roundup of October 16, 1943, more than a thousand Jews were deported.
In 2016, Pope Francis, before entering the Great Synagogue of Rome, stopped in front of a plaque commemorating this tragedy. John Paul II was the first pope to visit the Great Synagogue of Rome, in 1986. Pope Benedict XVI also visited it in 2010.
