According to CBS News, Pope Benedict XVI will visit a synagogue
while in New York, marking "just the third visit by any pope to a
synagogue in the 2,000 year history of the Roman Catholic Church."
The story says that the first was a visit by Benedict's
predecessor, John Paul II, and Benedict will have twice entered
Jewish houses of worship and learning. Only one problem with that:
St. Peter, the first pope, was a Jew. And the separation between
Jews and Christians was a gradual one. Early Christians considered
themselves a sect within Judaism and had to be effectively kicked
out of synagogues when the differences proved too great for Judaism
to contain.
