The Papal visit may have drawn Catholics from all over the world to Washington last week. But in Potomac, it also drew together two faith groups as more than 100 Catholic ‘‘pilgrims” visiting from two New Jersey parishes spent the night at Congregation Har Shalom.
The visit came as Har Shalom’s congregants were busily making preparations for Passover.
‘‘You’re actually helping us out — we would have had to throw this away anyway,” said congregation executive director Michael Simmons Thursday to ‘‘pilgrim” the Rev. Justino Cornejo about a spread of bagels and other breakfast food the congregants had set out for the group of travelers.
Potomac Congregants had been busy cleaning and ridding the synagogue of food that was not kosher for Passover.
‘‘We’re happy to help you out,” joked Cornejo.
The group is known as pilgrims because they followed Pope Benedict XVI along his route. Their visit to Washington was to be followed by a trek to New York, tracing the pontiff’s journey in America. The 114 pilgrims arrived at Har Shalom April 16 after a long day of trailing the Catholic leader, visiting the basilica at the Catholic University of America and the Vatican Embassy. Afterward, Simmons and another church representative helped bring back 30 pizzas for the hungry pilgrims — which they ate outside on the balmy evening to accommodate the Passover-readied temple — and spent the night in sleeping bags in a large gathering room.
‘‘They’re on their own spiritual journey, just like everyone here at the congregation,” said Rabbi Risa Weinstein of Har Shalom.
Simmons received a call on April 11 from the Rev. Carlos Benitez of St. Raphael’s Catholic Church in Rockville. Benitez was busy trying to find accommodations in the area for hundreds of Catholics traveling from New Jersey, Northern California, Louisiana and Texas to welcome the pontiff to America.
Congregation Har Shalom, along with Temple Beth Ami in North Potomac, were two area faith groups that accepted the request for temporary housing. About 230 pilgrims stayed over at Temple Beth Ami.
‘‘Right now it’s Passover, and they were extremely kind,” Benitez said. ‘‘It could have been a conflict and yet they still opened their doors and welcomed us very graciously.”
‘‘It’s not something we ordinarily do at the synagogue, but in the olden days, synagogues were places were wayfarers could stop and sleep,” Weinstein said.
For members of the two New Jersey parishes who stayed at Har Shalom — St. Elizabeth’s Church in Linden and Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Patrick’s Church in Elizabeth — being given the opportunity to see the Pope was an unforgettable experience.
‘‘We organized a pilgrimage in order to come see the Father because he is the one who leads us and speaks to us,” Cornejo said. ‘‘We are happy to follow him wherever he goes.”
‘‘For me, the experience meant that the church is alive,” said Ruth Reviriego, 19, of St. Elizabeth’s Church. ‘‘There were so many people — young people —singing and dancing to welcome the Pope.”
Weinstein acknowledged the new Pope’s interfaith efforts, but said reaching out between religions can happen on a local level as well.
Weinstein said she hopes in the future the congregation will be able to coordinate joint projects with other faith communities.
‘‘I’m always happy to support leaders of religions when they’re building bridges between faiths, but there’s a lot that people on the ground can do to,” Weinstein said.
