Pope John Paul II met Friday with Israel's chief rabbis, making their first visit to the Vatican, and assured them of his commitment to improve Catholic-Jewish relations and promote cooperation between the two faiths.
For their part, the rabbis said they asked the pope to keep speaking out against anti-Semitism, to intercede in favor of Israeli prisoners taken by the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon and to dedicate a day on the Catholic calendar for study and reflection on the Jewish faith.
The audience with Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar was the first by Israel's chief rabbis in the Vatican. The pope met Israel's previous chief rabbis in the Holy Land during his visit in 2000.
Before leaving Israel, the rabbis said they would ask to search Vatican storerooms for artifacts such as the huge golden menorah that stood in the temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.
But Metzger said they didn't mention the menorah.
"We left it to his discretion to find an object that would be important to us," Metzger said. "We don't know if it (the menorah) exists but if it does and they decide to give it to us there will be no greater joy for us."
They were shown manuscripts written by the 12th century Jewish scholar Moses Maimondes and asked that they be lent to Israel.
John Paul told them that in his 25 years as pope "I have striven to promote Jewish-Catholic dialogue and to foster ever greater understanding, respect and cooperation between us."
He called the Holy Land visit one of the highlights of his papacy, recalling his stops at the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial and the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.
"The official dialogue established between the Catholic Church and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel is a sign of great hope. We must spare no effort in working together to build a world of justice, peace and reconciliation," the pope said.
The audience was arranged in connection with an interfaith concert at the Vatican on Saturday evening.
Amar, spiritual leader of Israel's Jews of North African origin, told Israel's Army Radio on Thursday that when he received the invitation, "the truth is I asked them, I could not resist ... I asked them about the Temple vessels and the menorah."
When the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70 A.D., they took huge amounts of booty home. Legend has it that religious articles from the Temple, including the menorah, were among them.
The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts victorious Roman legions marching off with the seven-branch menorah in hand.
Amar said the Vatican official denied the menorah was there.
"My heart tells me this is not the truth, but that it is some kind of camouflage," Amar said.
The menorah was the most important symbol of the Temple after the Ark of the Covenant. The image of the biblical menorah is the symbol of the modern state of Israel.
Some Orthodox Jews believe the restoration of the menorah and other holy vessels to Jerusalem would be the first step in rebuilding the Temple, whose site is now occupied by the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine of Islam.