An old pontiff whose word becomes more and more faint like an echo coming from a distant world and a young rabbi living in the increasingly secular and distracted Vienna of the 21st century. For their age, they are reminiscent of starec Zosima and the young Alioscia, but they are two authoritative representatives of Christianity and Judaism respectively. They confront each other, write to each other, eventually meet. In the babel of uninterrupted connection, who can be interested in their voices that want to go beyond ancient prejudices, beyond grudges at the origin of atrocities whose frightening images do not seem sufficient to prevent new and recurring resurgences of anti-Semitism?


Yet their words have gone round the world, they have reminded many that love is stronger than hatred, that by working together in trust and hope we can still look to the future of mankind. So I went in search of their words, of the occasion that generated them, of the main documents of the Jewish-Christian dialogue. The result is this book that the editor and publisher offer together with the pope emeritus in grateful admiration (Elio Guerriero).