September 22, 2025
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Jewish Community,
As you and your families prepare to celebrate the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, I wish to extend my prayers and heartfelt best wishes on behalf of the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg.
Rosh Hashanah is a sacred time of reflection, renewal, and hope. It is a season that calls each of us – no matter our tradition – to pause and consider how we may walk more faithfully with God and with one another in the coming year. Your observance of this holy time is a witness to the power of prayer, repentance, and the desire for peace and justice in our world. We join you and all people of good will in continued prayer for peace in Israel and an end to the current conflict.
As Catholics, we hold in deep respect our shared spiritual heritage and the enduring covenant between God and the people oflsrael. In one of his messages after his election, Pope Leo XIV said that “Trusting in the assistance of the Almighty, I pledge to continue to strengthen the church’s dialogue and cooperation with the Jewish people in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration ‘Nostra Aetate.'” This document from over 60 years ago affirmed the spiritual kinship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people and reiterated our condemnation of all forms of anti-Semitism. I echo these words from Pope Leo, and it is in that spirit of fraternity that I pray for abundant blessings upon you, your loved ones, and the entire Jewish community. May this New Year bring with it health, joy, and peace.
Shanah Tovah!
Most Reverend Timothy C. Senior
Bishop of Harrisburg
