Too Catholic! For Me Says Chief Rabbi Of Rome

Senior Rabbi Pulls Out Of 140-Hour Bible Reading Session

The Chief Rabbi of Rome claims the televised event, which begins with the Pope reading Genesis, will be "too Catholic"

The chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, has pulled out of a planned marathon reading of the entire Bible on Italian television with Pope Benedict XVI next month on the grounds that the event is "too Catholic".

The reading, which will last 140 hours, will be broadcast on RAI, Italian state television, over six days and nights starting on October 5. It will open with the Pope reading from Genesis. The pontiff will be followed by 1,300 readers drawn not only from Christian ranks - including Protestant and Orthodox churches - but also from Rome's Muslim community.

However, Rabbi di Segni said "The Bible is not the same thing for Jews and for Christians. For us, it is the Old Testament, but not the New Testament". He said he also objected to the choice of venue, the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme - one of the seven pilgrim churches of Rome - because it was where St Helena, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, brought Christian relics such as fragments of the True Cross back from the Holy Land to underline the fact that the centre of the new religion - Christianity - was not Jerusalem but Rome.

There goes our Judeo-Christian roots. It's really not the same. I'm glad the Rabbi is being truthful, kind of - Johnny

Actually, this guy from Savannah USA comments with a little more honesty from the Times article Pope Benedict XVI Selects Rabbi To speak To Roman Catholic Synod

"Actually the most sacred book to us Jews is the Talmud which provides guidance in reading the Torah" (emphasis on the Oral Traditions, not Moses' Written Law)

Joe Applebaum, Savannah, USA

Thanks Michael Hoffman for this lead, enjoying your book! - Johnny