To celebrate Rosh Hashana

This afternoon, Pope Francis met with a delegation of 40 world Jewish leaders at the Casa Santa Marta in honor of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

Among those attending the event were World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder, Latin American Jewish Congress President Jack Terpins, WJC Treasurer Chella Safra and a number of Jewish community heads and senior WJC officials.

We want to share with the pope our message of peace and prosperity for the New Year, said Claudio Epelman, Executive Director of the LAJC and the WJC official in charge of relations with the Vatican.

Among the gifts presented to the Holy Father was a football jersey bearing the name Francisco.

Rosh Hashanah is a two-day festival that occurs 163 days after the first day of Passover (Pesach).