Eugenio Zolli, the former Chief Rabbi of Rome, converted to Catholicism and was baptized in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels on February 17, 1945. He took the name Eugenio in honor of Eugenio Pacelli–Pope Pius XII, who lead the Church through World War II and the postwar years and did so with such wisdom that respect for the papacy reached an all-time high. His mother was a German-Jewess and on her side of the family there was actually 130 years of rabbinical tradition. As Chief Rabbi of Rome, the Gestapo offered a substantial reward for his capture. Yet, he offered himself as hostage to the Nazi forces then occupying the city if they would release several hundred of his fellow Jews.
Jews, and especially the Rabbis of the Orthodox group, do not become Christians light-mindedly, nor without powerful help from God. When he was asked why he had given up the Synagogue for the Church, he gave an answer that showed his understanding of his present position: “I have not given it up. Christianity is the integration, completion or crown of the Synagogue. For, the Synagogue was a promise, and Christianity is the fulfillment of that promise. The Synagogue pointed to Christianity: Christianity presupposes the Synagogue. So, you see, one cannot exist without the other. What I converted to was the living Christianity.”
When Zolli was asked why he had not joined one of the Protestant denominations, which are also Christian, he answered: “Because protesting is not attesting. I do not intend to embarrass anyone by asking: ‘Why wait 1,500 years to protest?’ The Catholic Church was recognized by the whole Christian world as the true Church of God for 15 consecutive centuries. No man can halt at the end of those 1,500 years and say that the Catholic Church is not the true Church of Christ without embarrassing himself seriously. I can accept only that Church which preached to all creatures by my own forefathers, the Twelve (Apostles) who, like me, issued from the Synagogue.”