Israeli Schools to Prep Kids on Papal Visit, Highlight Positive Catholic-Jewish Connections

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – In a first, Israel’s Ministry of Education has prepared a packet of teaching materials for schools in the run-up to the upcoming Papal visit, set to begin on May 25.

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the Church of the nativity in Bethlehem, and Amman, Jordan in the two-day Holy Land sojourn.

The new instructional material is intended to spotlight positive connections between the Church and Israel since WWII, a ministry official told Israel’s Ma’ariv news site.

“For years, children learned about Jewish communities in Christendom and Europe,” Dr. Orna Katz told the newspaper.

“Our emphasis is integration and rejection – not just rejection,” Katz said, adding that “the theme of the Righteous Gentile, is, in my opinion, the most important issue … we are preparing the subject well before the papal visit.”

Read more - http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/05/18/israeli-schools-to-prep-kids-on-papal-visit-highlight-positive-catholic-jewish-connections/