Israeli ambassador emphasizes 'smoothing things up' at Vatican

Published: 2008-05-16

ROME (CNS) -- Israeli ambassadors to the Vatican have a tradition of being press-friendly, and Mordechay Lewy is no exception. Three days after presenting his credentials to Pope Benedict XVI, Lewy sat down with six Vatican journalists for a conversation at the Israeli Embassy in Rome's Parioli neighborhood. Over coffee and cookies May 15 he chatted about his new job and did a little parsing of the pope's speech, which was handed to him at the credentials ceremony. Lewy left no doubt that he relishes the role of ambassador to the Holy See. He said that when diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Israel were established in 1993 he told himself, "That's a job for me." He's had a long interest in the history of religion in the Middle East. Lewy told reporters that his meeting with the pope was very positive, on the whole. Lewy said he did not come into his job with a "blueprint," but predicted that his work would focus largely on bilateral issues and also on Catholic-Jewish relations. Asked what his general approach would be, he stood and ran his hand over the rounded edge of his wooden desk and said, "I'm for smoothing things up and not for stressing the corners."

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