..to bring you this odd, but I suppose hopeful story…

A rabbi who temporarily resigned last month as head of South America’s largest Jewish Congregation after being arrested in Florida on shoplifting charges, said he will meet with Pope Benedict XVI when the pontiff visits in May.

Henry I. Sobel, who for more than 30 years led the Sao Paulo Jewish Congregation, was arrested in March on three counts of theft for allegedly stealing ties, with a total value of $680, from several upscale stores in Palm Beach, Fla. He was released after posting $3,000 bail.

Sobel, 63, told the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, in an interview published Friday, that his meeting with the pope — scheduled before the Palm Beach arrest — had recently been confirmed.

Sobel, who could not be reached directly Friday, said that during his meeting with the pope he would "ask for God’s forgiveness, if I am given the opportunity."

"I am not Catholic, so I cannot ask for the pope’s forgiveness," he said. "But I will ask the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Israel to forgive me.

He added: "Perhaps in the pope’s presence I could feel his humility and have some of it enter my soul." Sobel gained a strong reputation as a defender of human rights during Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship and is also well-known in Brazil for attempting to forge strong relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims.