” “And then in 1986 for the first time in the history of the Church, a pope, John Paul II, paid a visit to the Synagogue of Rome and embraced the rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff. On that occasion the Pope called the Jews "older brothers" and said: "The Jewish religion is in some ways inherent in the Christian religion. We therefore have a relationship with it that we do not have with any other religion". In December 1993 came the recognition of the State of Israel by the Holy See. Another important date, 16 March 1998, the day on which the Commission for the religious relationships with Hebraism published: "We Remember: Reflections on the Shoah". "At the close of this millennium reads the text the Catholic Church wishes to express its deepest regret for the mistakes made by its sons and daughters across time. This is an act of contrition (teshuva): indeed, as members of the Church, we share both the sins and merits of all of its children. Let us pray that the grief for the tragedies that the Jewish people have suffered during our century may lead to new relationships with them. We wish to transform the awareness of the sins of the past into a firm commitment for a new future in which there will be no anti-Jew feelings among the Christians and no anti-Christian feelings among the Jews, but rather they will mutually respect each other, as is befitting for those who worship the sole Creator and Lord and who share the same father in faith, Abraham".
