Pope Francis Gets Bar-Ilan Honor at Vatican
Image by getty images
Pope Francis received Rabbi Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz, Bar-Ilan University of Israel’s president, at the Vatican.
During the audience on Monday, the university bestowed its highest Award of Distinction upon the Pope in recognition of his lifelong efforts promoting peace and fighting for human rights.
“We are the sons of Abraham and we have the privilege and the responsibility to guide humankind on the path to peace,” the Pope told the Bar Ilan delegation of 25 academics, as well as businesspeople from South America and Spain. Hershkowitz told the Pope that former Israeli President Shimon Peres asked that Bar-Ilan University serve as a home base for dialogue among religions, an initiative which the Pope and Peres have agreed to work together to advance. The Pope welcomed this new development.
The reception with Pope Francis and presentation of the award marked the official opening of a year of festivities in celebration of Bar-Ilan University’s 60th anniversary.
“Peace and harmony were born much before religions were. The concepts of harmony and unity are shared by our respective religions. Unfortunately however, we are living in a world that is filled with hostility and animosity. Our very presence here signals a new beginning, a vista of opportunity. We are ever so aware of the need for dialogue and harmony, peace and coexistence,” Hershkowitz told the Pope.
The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization reportedly protested to the Vatican over the pope’s agreement to see representatives of Bar Ilan, due to what they called the university’s right-wing positions and support for settlers and settlements, Haaretz reported.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
