Have you heard the one about the rabbi who went to the Vatican to tell the Pope that he has the solution to the sex abuse crises scandalizing the Catholic Church? Catholics should give up giving up fish on Fridays, he said, and instead do Shabbat dinner, the traditional Friday family meal of Jews.

No joke…

American rabbi, Shmuley Boteach had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday to encourage the Pontiff to encourage Catholic parents to eat dinner regularly with their children. A “Turn Friday Night into Family Night” as he called it would re-establish the Catholic pro-family image battered in the wake of recent priest sex abuse scandals, Boteach claimed.

“If the Church embraces an initiative like this, which is positive, it could put a lot of the scandal behind it,'” Boteach said. “People will see the Church doesn’t just speak about opposition to gay marriage and abortion.'”

The pope appeared to be receptive to the challenge. “We have to work together on this, we have to work together on this,” Benedict XVI responded.  

Certainly no joke…

The challenge seems enriching to me. I’m not Catholic but I think our family will give this a shot… After baseball season perhaps.