NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Pope Benedict became the first pontiff to visit an American synagogue, bringing greetings for the Passover holiday and accepting gifts of matzo and a seder plate.
Benedict, 81, stopped briefly at Park East Synagogue on Manhattan's Upper East Side, near the Vatican residence.
``I find it moving to recall that Jesus, as a young boy, heard the words of Scripture and prayed in a place such as this,'' he said.
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At a Roman Catholic church in Manhattan, the pope later warned other Christian leaders against ``so-called prophetic actions'' that conflict with traditional views of the Bible, a reference to the debate over Scripture that is fracturing churches in America and around the world.
In his visit to the synagogue, Benedict was shown the congregation's collection of parchment scrolls, and two youngsters presented him with the Passover gifts.
The German-born pontiff then offered a gift of his own: a reproduction of a Jewish codex.
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``In our lifetime, we have experienced the ravages of war, the Holocaust, man's inhumanity to man and tasted the joy of freedom,'' said Rabbi Arthur Schneier, who lived in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.
``This momentous occasion takes places on American soil, where men and women escaping the clutches of oppression and religious persecution have built a nation of democracy and freedom. This is a nation which has allowed all religious communities to flourish.''
The Jewish community makes ``a valuable contribution to the life of the city,'' Benedict said. ``And I encourage all of you to continue building bridges of friendship with all the many different ethnic and religious groups present in your neighborhood.''
The visit was Benedict's second as pontiff to a Jewish house of worship. On his first papal trip abroad in 2005, Benedict entered a synagogue in Cologne, Germany, that had been destroyed by the Nazis and rebuilt.
At his visit with Christian leaders, the pontiff said allowing individual congregations to interpret the Gospel undermines evangelism at a time when ``the world is losing its bearings'' and needs ``persuasive common witness'' to salvation in Christ.
``Only by holding fast to sound teaching will we be able to respond to the challenges that confront us in an evolving world,'' Benedict said at the evening service with Protestant and Orthodox clergy at St. Joseph's church, which was founded by German immigrants and still regularly celebrates Mass in German.
``Only in this way will we give unambiguous testimony to the truth of the Gospel and its moral teaching. This is the method which the world is waiting to hear from us.''
Benedict did not mention specific issues troubling the churches. However, many Protestant groups have been arguing for years over how to understand what the Bible says about truth and salvation, and whether it prohibits gay sex.
The U.S. Episcopal Church caused an uproar among its fellow Anglicans in 2003 by consecrating the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
The global Anglican Communion, the world's third-largest religious group, is now near the break of schism. Other mainline Protestant groups based in the U.S. are also divided over the issue.
Several of those denominations sent representatives to the pope's Friday event.
Christopher Epting, ecumenical officer of the Episcopal Church, said he didn't feel the pope was singling out his or any other church. He added that Episcopalians are still in dialogue with the Catholics.
The ecumenical service was one of the many efforts by Benedict to reach out to other Christians and to members of different faiths during his six-day visit to Washington and New York. It is his first visit to the United States since he was elected pontiff in 2005.
Earlier this week in Washington, the pope met with Jewish leaders, along with Muslim, Buddhist, Jainist and Hindu representatives.
The American Muslim leaders who attended the Washington interreligious meeting had said they were committed to working with the Roman Catholic church but were uneasy about some of Benedict's past comments and actions.
Many were upset by his Easter baptism in St. Peter's Basilica of an Egyptian-born Muslim who has called Islam inherently violent.
Benedict, like Pope John Paul II, has also worked to heal the centuries-old rift between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.
At Friday's services, leaders from several of the denominations briefly greeted the pope. Among them was Bernice A. King, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and an elder at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.
The head of the National Association of Evangelicals, Leith Anderson, a pastor in Eden Prairie, Minn., also attended.
Also on Friday, a U.N. speech highlighted another active day on Benedict's first papal trip to the United States.
In his U.N. address, Benedict said that respect for human rights, not violence, was the key to solving many of the world's problems.
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While he didn't identify the countries that have a stranglehold on global power, the German pope -- just the third pontiff to address the U.N. General Assembly -- addressed long-standing Vatican concerns about the struggle to achieve world peace and the development of the poorest regions.
On the one hand, he said, collective action by the international community is needed to solve the planet's greatest challenges.
On the other, ``we experience the obvious paradox of a multilateral consensus that continues to be in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few.''
The pope made no mention of the United States in his speech, though the Vatican did not support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which occurred despite the Bush administration's failure to gain Security Council approval for it. At other moments on his trip, Benedict has been overtly critical of the U.S., noting how opportunity and hope have not always been available to minorities.
The pope said questions of security, development and protection of the environment require international leaders to work together in good faith, particularly when dealing with Africa and other underdeveloped areas vulnerable to ``the negative effects of globalization.''
Benedict also insisted that the way to peace was by insuring respect for the dignity of human beings.
``The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and increasing security,'' the pope said.
Those whose rights are trampled, he said, ``become easy prey to the call to violence and they then become violators of peace.''
By contrast, the pope said, recognition of human rights favors ``conversion of heart, which then leads to a commitment to resist violence, terrorism and war.''
While Benedict, a former university professor and theologian, has spoken out less on global conflicts than his predecessor, John Paul II, he too lived through the Second World War. He was drafted into the German army at war's end and later deserted.
After three days in Washington, the pope took an early morning flight from the nation's capital to New York City.
His late-afternoon stop at Park East Synagogue, a modern Orthodox congregation, was mostly symbolic -- a quick visit to offer greetings as Passover approaches, exchange gifts and signal the increasingly warm relations between Catholicism and Judaism.
``May God spread his canopy of peace over all of us,'' Rabbi Arthur Schneier told the pope in his welcoming remarks.
``I assure you ... of my closeness at this time, as you prepare to celebrate the great deeds of the Almighty,'' Benedict said.
The pope later delivered a speech to other Christian leaders during which he advocated holding the line on orthodoxy within denominations. Allowing individual congregations to interpret the Gospel undermines evangelism at a time when ``the world is losing its bearings,'' he said.
Benedict did not address atonement for clergy sex abuse in his U.N. speech, which has developed into a major theme on the trip. He has been widely expected to broach the subject Saturday when he celebrates Mass for priests, deacons and members of religious orders at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan.
Some victims' advocates are pressing for bishops to be sanctioned for their role in the scandal that has cost the U.S. church more than $2 billion.
Cardinal William Levada, an American cleric who runs the Vatican agency that enforces church doctrine, said Friday he does not know of any bishops guilty of ``aiding and abetting'' pedophiles, and would respond if he did. Bishops who have made mistakes, he said, largely took advice that was accepted at the time but proved wrong.
Levada said it was possible that canonical rules, or church rules, could be changed to better address the abuse scourge.
``It's possible,'' Levada said in a conversation with reporters at a luncheon given by Time magazine. ``There are some things under consideration that I'm not able to say.''
As it was in Washington, the pope was surrounded by well-wishers all day.
Several hundred supporters, many of them Hispanic, turned up outside the U.N., standing behind metal police barricades as Benedict spoke.
A group of New Jersey Catholics held up a banner for the German-born pope that combined German -- ``Willkommen Pope Benedict XVI'' -- and English sentiments: ``You Rock!''
A small anti-pope contingent included a group calling itself Forum for Protection of Religious Pluralism. Financial consultant Padmanabh Rao, a Hindu from Woodbridge, N.J., complained that the Vatican is converting people in India to Catholicism.
Before the pontiff's speech, Benedict and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met alone for 15 minutes for what the Vatican called a discussion on a range of international issues. No details were given.
Later, speaking to U.N. staff members, Benedict paid tribute to 42 civilians and peacekeepers killed in 2007. He said the United Nations plays a key role in monitoring how well governments protect their citizens.
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