KATSAV INVITED FOR STATE VISIT WITH POPE
by Yoav Stern
President Moshe Katsav will be a guest of the Vatican in the middle of next month. The official visit will mark a first by an Israeli president to the Vatican.
The Vatican visit will take place during Katsav’s trip to Italy, which will also also be hosting an Israeli president on a state visit for the first time.
Katsav and Pope Benedict XVI will discuss ways of expanding cooperation on state affairs between the Vatican and Israel and deepening the dialogue between Judaism and Catholicism.
Katsav will also ask the Pope to step up the Vatican’s actions against anti-Semitism throughout the world and to allow Israeli researchers access to documents in the Vatican’s archives.
Israel’s ambassador to the Vatican, Oded Ben Hur, said yesterday from Rome that the visit was an important step in the two states’ reconciliation. “It reflects the good relations between the two states and their strengthening,” he said.
Recently, Israel and the Vatican have ironed out the controversy stemming from the Pope’s failure to mention Israel in the list of states that suffer from terror. The controversy ended when Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s secretary of state - the equivalent to the prime minister - announced that an “error” had caused it.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sent Sodano a letter praising the Pope, calling him “a true friend of Israel” and expressing regret that Israel was not mentioned in his statement.
Katsav’s adviser on state affairs, Avi Granot, said yesterday that there were two sides to the meeting between the president and the Pope. “Israel and the Vatican are two states maintaining diplomatic relations but beyond that, the recognition agreement between them mentions that Israel represents the Jewish nation and the Vatican represents the Catholic world, and hence the importance of the meeting,” he said.
He said both bilateral issues and issues pertaining to the dialogue between the religions would be discussed at the meeting.
Katsav’s visit in Italy will include military parades, raising flags and all the ceremonial accoutrements reserved for heads of state. He will reside in Quirinale Palace in Rome’s Palazzo del Quirinale, the Italian presidents’ residence and formerly the palace of the kings of Rome and the palace of the popes.
The visit may include a trip to the Jewish community in Milan.
