Pope to visit New York synagogue during US trip

Pope Benedict will meet Jewish leaders in Washington and visit a synagogue in New York in acknowledgment of the Passover festival, which begins during his US tour this month, US bishops said.

The meeting and synagogue visit closely follow a disagreement between the Vatican and the Jewish community over the release of a new Good Friday prayer for the Latin Mass that appears to seek the conversion of Jews, a practice largely ended in Church reforms 40 years ago.

The Pope, who visits Washington and New York from April 15 to 20, will meet with 200 leaders of other religions on April 17 and will speak separately with Jewish leaders afterward, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement.

The meeting is "to present to them a message of his cordial greetings for the imminent feast of Passover," said Mgr David Malloy, the general secretary of the US Conference of Bishops.

The Pontiff, on his first trip to the US since being elected leader of the Roman Catholic Church in 2005, will visit Park East Synagogue in New York City. Its rabbi, Arthur Schneier, is a Holocaust survivor who lived under Nazi occupation in Budapest during World War II.

Pope Benedict, who turns 81 on April 16, is the first German elected head of the Catholic Church since World War II. Although his family opposed Hitler's regime, he was forced to join the Hitler Youth and later the German army before deserting at the end of the war.

The visit, on April 18, would be only the second time Pope Benedict has visited a synagogue and only the third time a modern Pope has entered a Jewish place of worship.

"By this personal and informal visit, which is not part of his official programme, His Holiness wishes to express his good will toward the local Jewish community as they prepare for Passover," Mgr Malloy said.

Pope Benedict visited a synagogue in Cologne, Germany, in 2005 to pay tribute to Jews from the city who died during the Holocaust. His predecessor, Pope John Paul, visited a synagogue in Rome in 1986.

The Passover festival, which begins on April 19 this year, commemorates the Jews' escape from slavery from the pharaoh in ancient Egypt.