Toronto Rabbi and Wife Get Rare Papal Blessing for 70th Anniversary
A Toronto rabbi and his wife received a blessing from the pope as a wedding anniversary gift.
To mark their 70th year together, Rabbi Erwin Schild and his wife, Laura, were presented with a handwritten scroll stamped with the papal seal and a photo of Pope Francis.
The couple was presented with the honor by Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop of Toronto, at Adath Israel Congregation, where Schild served as spiritual leader from 1947 to 1989.
The papal blessing, or benediction papalis, is given to mark important events such as baptisms, birthdays, weddings or anniversaries in the lives of Roman Catholics. It is very rarely bestowed on non-Christians, the Toronto Star reported.
“They have reached out to be bridge builders, to show the way forward,” Collins told those gathered at a special interfaith event at Adath Israel.
Collins noted that Schild, who turns 96 on March 9, has long been an interfaith leader who promoted positive relations between Christians and Jews.
Schild, who was born in Germany and survived the Dachau concentration camp, helped build the Conservative synagogue’s membership to its current 1,800 families.
In his remarks, Schild called the papal blessing “an astounding gift” that requires “an exceptional degree of appreciation.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30