Pope Benedict XVI visited the synagogue of Germany's oldest Jewish community, which was destroyed by the Nazis in 1938 and reconstructed in 1959. Taking his place in the first row of the synagogue of Cologne on August 19, 2005, the pope was clearly following the example of John Paul II, who had visited the Great Synagogue of Rome in 1986. The visit marks the second-ever visit of a modern pope and was specifically planned to advance new goals of dialogue between Jews and Catholics.

Rabbi Alan Plancey of Britain's Chief Rabbinate welcomed the visit as “an important symbolic moment” in the relations between Catholics and Jews. Paul Spiegel, director of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said.  “If someone told me 45 years ago, ‘You are going to be in Cologne and a German pope will visit you in a synagogue,' I wouldn't have believed it.”

With this visit, Benedict XVI plans to continue the work begun by Pope John Paul II in Mainz in 1980; pledging his commitment to strengthen and deepen friendships with the Jewish people. Characterizing the years of the Shoah as “an insane racist ideology, born of neo-paganism,” he called the years of the Nazi regime “the darkest period of German and European history . . . [when] the holiness of God was no longer recognized and consequently contempt was shown for the sacredness of human life.” He reminded his audience of the “common roots and the immensely rich spiritual heritage that Jews and Christians share.”

The visit began outside the synagogue where Rabbi Natanel Teitelbaum recited the Kaddish prayer to commemorate the dead before a memorial to the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis—11,000 of them from Cologne. Numerous international guests, dignitaries and politicians took part in the synagogue visit, among them Shimon Stein, German interior minister; Paul Spiegel, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany; Federal Minister of the Interior Otto Schily (SPD); Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU), the newly elected minister president of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia; and Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, retired archbishop of Paris, who is Jewish, and whose mother was killed in Auschwitz.

Afterwards, Rabbi Natanel Teitelbaum held up his right hand and extended it as the “hand of Jewish friendship.” In response, the pope warmly grasped his hand and the two entered the synagogue while a choir sang, “Shalom Alechem” – “peace be with you.”

Back in the synagogue's main foyer, the pope listened intently to psalms sung by a cantor. Then, one of the presidents, Mr. Abraham Lehrer, retold the story of the Jewish community of Cologne, the oldest one in Germany, and praised Pope Benedict XVI, for choosing to come to a synagogue for his first foreign visit. Calling him Pontiff, etymologically a builder of bridges, Mr. Lehrer spoke of the pope as someone who is building bridges towards Judaism — a model for all Christians and for the entire Church. Mr. Lehrer also referred to the Pope's German origin. He noted the steps the Catholic Church has taken since adopting the Conciliar Constitution and Nostra Aetate and emphasized that in doing this work, the Church has made an undeniable historical turnaround.

When it was his turn to speak, Benedict XVI said, “Today I, too, wish to reaffirm that I intend to continue on the path toward improved relations and friendship with the Jewish people, following the decisive lead given by John Paul II.”  Speaking with great passion and conviction, he spoke of Nostra Aetate that condemned all hatred and anti-Semitism. He also challenged adults to hand down to young people “the torch of hope that God has given to Jews and to Christians, so that ‘never again' will the forces of evil come to power, and that future generations, with God's help may be able to build a more just and peaceful world, in which all people have equal rights and are equally at home.”  

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