Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis is to have a private audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Thursday – his first meeting with the head of the Catholic Church.

He will be accompanied by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, on the visit, which has been scheduled ahead of next month’s 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking declaration on Jewish-Christian relations, Nostra Aetate .

Rabbi Mirvis said that “today we face challenges that could not have been accounted for by Nostra Aetate 50 years ago, such as the widespread secularisation of our society and the dramatic increase in prejudice against minority faith communities.”
He added that “We treasure the spirit of collaboration between our faiths and I look forward to discussing these and other pressing issues with Pope Francis.”

Nostra Aetate marked a sea-change in relations between Judaism and Christianity, reversing centuries of officially sanctioned antisemitism and absolving the Jews of collectively being responsible for the death of Jesus.

Private audiences with the Pope are relatively rare and Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks had just one during his tenure with Pope Benedict XVI