England's Sir Sigmund Sternberg writes to Inside the Vatican magazine.

With a cordial invitation to Pope Benedict XVI.

"..to step inside one of our splendid synagogues..."


The editors tell us:


"Sternberg is Jewish and was born in Hungary on June 2, 1921..."



This material is lifted from the ITC letters to the editor section March 2010.


"AN INVITATION TO THE POPE


"Your February 2010 issue quite rightly devoted a lot of space to relations between Catholics and Jews, especially the Pope's visit to the Rome Synagogue.

"I was privileged to be among the welcoming party when John Paul II visited the same synagogue in 1986, the first by any pontiff to a Jewish house of worship.

"That visit and the one by Pope Benedict XVI are widely welcomed, particularly on the Jewish side, as indicators of the ever -strengthening ties of respect and understanding between our two faiths.

"I appreciate that Pope Benedict will be busy during his forthcoming visit to the UK, but it would be a warmly welcomed gesture of fellowship if he could find time to step inside one of our splendid synagogues during his stay.

"Yours sincerely, Sir Sigmund Sternberg..."


To which the editors respond, in part:


"For our readers, we note that Sir Sigmund Sternberg is a British philanthropist, businessman and Labor Party donor who has worked in promoting dialogue between different faiths.

"He established the Sternberg Foundation in 1968.

"He emigrated to Britain in 1939 and was naturalized as a British citizen in 1947.

"In 1998 he was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion; he has also received recognition and awards from many other countries..."