Rome's chief rabbi Riccardo Di Segni paid a historic visit to Rome's mosque on Monday at the head of a delegation including the leader of the capital's Jewish community Riccardo Paserman.
It was the first time a rabbi had visited the mosque - the biggest in the West - and the first official meeting between the Italian capital's Islamic and Jewish communities. The Jewish delegation was received by the leader of the Islamic Cultural Centre that runs the mosque, Abdellah Redouane, who stressed that "religions must unite and not divide".
Di Segni recalled that the Jewish community had condemned the recent cartoons satirising the Prophet Mohammed and said the Islamic community was facing the same problems that the Jewish community - the oldest in the world - had faced, including religious teaching in schools and safeguarding religious food traditions.
The question of Islamic students having their own religious lessons has been raised in Italy recently and some Catholic officials have said they are open to the idea. Redouane thanked Di Segni for Jewish solidarity in the cartoon affair. He said the cartoons had "wounded us but not made us lose our faith in mankind."
Redouane voiced "great satisfaction" at the visit and underscored that "the two communities can talk and build a future together under the same roof". Di Segni also spoke of "an important day".
The two religious leaders condemned Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, while Di Segni stressed the common roots of Islam and Judaism. "The Talmud and the Koran affirm the principle that saving a human life is like saving the whole of mankind, while destroying one is like destroying the whole world".
"It is the task of religious authorities to avert the danger of violence and hatred, wherever they come from, being fuelled by religion," Di Segni said. The chief rabbi also underscored the importance of helping Israel and Palestine achieve peace, "for the good of both sides and the whole world."
Di Segni invited the Islamic leaders to visit the Rome synagogue - including the mosque's imam, who was absent on Monday for personal reasons. The chief rabbi extended the historic invitation also Mario Scialoja, the president of the Muslim World League in Italy, who was present at Monday's visit.
Rome's mosque, designed by leading Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi - can hold 4,000 people.
This compares to a capacity of about 900 for New York's main mosque - although there are plans to build a huge mosque in London containing 40,000 faithful. In 2002 Premier Silvio Berlusconi became the first Italian prime minister to visit the mosque.
