(JTA) –The Roman Catholic Church in Palermo is ceding to Jewish ownership the use of part of a church and monastery complex built atop the ruins of a medieval synagogue.

The move is being viewed as a gesture of reconciliation more than 500 years after the expulsion of Jews from Sicily.

The church will finance renovations in the space to create a new synagogue and Jewish heritage center for the several dozen Jews who live in the city today.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The donated space is the Oratory of Santa Maria del Sabato, in the lower part of the building under the church complex of San Nicola da Tolentino, Rabbi Pierpaolo Pinhas Punturello told JTA.

Punturello is the emissary to Sicily of Shavei Israel, an organization that focuses on outreach to Jews who have lost connection to their Jewish roots and identity, including bnei anusim, or the descendants of Jews forced to convert to Catholicism under Spanish rule. Based in Israel, he serves as Palermo’s rabbi, traveling once a month to the city.

The handover will take place during a conference on January 12 — the anniversary of the expulsion of Jews from Sicily by Spanish rulers in 1493. Shavei Israel’s founder and chair, Michael Freund, who played a key role in arranging the donation of the space, will be one of the speakers at the conference.

Palermo’s archbishop Corrado Lorefice is transferring ownership of the space under the terms of the Italian “comodato d’uso gratuito”, an arrangement comparable to a free leasehold. There is no formal Jewish community in Palermo; the owners of the space will be a local cultural and educational organization, the Sicilian Institute of Jewish Studies – the Istituto Siciliano di Studi Ebraici, or ISSE, which is affiliated with Shavei Israel.

Punturello, who serves on the board of the ISSE, said Shavei Israel, which works in partnership with the Jewish umbrella Union of Italian Jewish Communities, or UCEI, and the Jewish community in Naples, will mainly be responsible for the new center’s operations, in large part due to his roles as Palermo’s rabbi and Shavei Israel emissary.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re in the middle of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount