FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 14, 2010
                            
ARCHBISHOP DOLAN TO HOST  JEWISH AND CATHOLIC LEADERS
 Gathering Will Celebrate Papal Visit To Rome Synagogue
 
Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, will host Jewish and Catholic leaders for prayer and fellowship, followed by a luncheon on Sunday, January 17, 2010. The gathering, which will begin at noon in the Archbishop’s residence behind Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, will celebrate Sunday’s visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Synagogue of Rome.  
 
This visit of Pope Benedict will mark the second time that a Pope will have visited Rome’s Synagogue, following the 1986 visit of Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict also visited a Synagogue in New York during his 2008 Pastoral Visit to the United States, when he greeted the Jewish community at Park East Synagogue.
 
Archbishop Dolan, mindful of the great value that both the Jewish and Catholic faiths place on the virtue of hospitality, said, “I have been so warmly and lovingly received by the Jewish community here in New York that I am pleased to have an opportunity to welcome these guests to my home. It is especially fitting that we can come together to celebrate the visit of Pope Benedict to Rome’s Synagogue. I invite all New Yorkers, of every faith, to pray that this visit will advance the cause of understanding and brotherhood between all peoples and all religions.”