President Isaac Herzog will attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in Rome on 18 May, his office confirmed, in what senior Catholic officials hope will mark a turning point in strained relations between Israel and the Holy See.
The visit follows years of rising tensions, culminating in Israel sending only its ambassador to Pope Francis’s funeral last month. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said Tuesday: “The president of the State of Israel will be there. I read it as a desire to change the situation.”
Leo XIV, the first US-born pope, has already reached out to Jewish leaders in a bid to renew dialogue. In a letter to Rabbi Noam Marans of the American Jewish Committee, he wrote: “Trusting in the assistance of the Almighty, I pledge to continue and strengthen the Church’s dialogue and cooperation with the Jewish people in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration Nostra Aetate.”
Robert Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV – the first American pontiff to be elected leader of the Catholic Church Pic: Vatican News
A similar message was sent to Rome’s Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, who welcomed it “with gratitude and satisfaction”. Both he and Marans are expected to attend the inaugural Mass.
The Nostra Aetate declaration, issued in 1965, repudiated the notion of Jewish collective guilt for the death of Jesus and laid the foundation for decades of Jewish-Catholic dialogue.
Cardinal Pizzaballa, addressing journalists in Jerusalem, added: “Jerusalem is the centre of the life of the church… a papal visit to the Holy Land needs to be done, but I do not know the timing.”
He also voiced concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling the current aid blockade “ethically unacceptable… it will create more hatred”.
The Vatican and Israel established full diplomatic relations in 1994, but ties have often been strained over political and religious issues, most recently following Pope Francis’s perceived reluctance to directly condemn Hamas after its 7 October massacre.
