Elio Toaff: Chief rabbi of Rome who stood with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican's drive to reach out to other religions

Following the 1943 German invasion of Italy, Toaff joined a resistance group fighting in the mountains of Italy and worked to hide victims of persecution

Toaff: 'A rabbi doesn't work only for the Jews,' he said. 'He belongs to everybody' (AP)

Elio Toaff was the long-standing chief rabbi of Rome who helped set Judaism and the Catholic Church on the path to reconciliation after centuries of distrust. He took an historic step on the path of reconciliation when he welcomed Pope John Paul II on the first papal visit to a synagogue, in 1986.

"A rabbi doesn't work only for his community or for the Jews. A rabbi has to talk to every human being who needs him. He belongs to everybody. He is for everybody," Toaff said on the eve of his retirement in 2001.

His willingness to engage in interfaith dialogue made him a partner in the Vatican's efforts to reach out to other religions, and he was one of only two living people mentioned in John Paul's will when the pontiff died in 2005. The other was the pope's personal secretary.

Born in 1915 to the chief rabbi of the Tuscan town of Livorno, Toaff followed in his father's steps after earning degrees in law and Jewish theology. He rose quickly through the ranks of Jewish scholars, and at 26 was called to lead the community in the central town of Ancona.

Following the 1943 German invasion of Italy, which saw thousands of Jews deported and killed, Toaff joined a resistance group that fought in the mountains of central Italy and worked to hide Jews and other victims of persecution. After the war, he led Venice's Jews from 1946, and in 1951 became chief rabbi of Rome, helping revitalise a community still reeling from the loss of more than 2,000 people sent to Nazi death camps. He published books on Jewish culture and in 2005 was proposed by some politicians as a candidate to to become a senator for life.

Eli Toaff, rabbi: born 30 April 1915; married (wife deceased; one daughter, three sons); died 19 April 2015.