( CNN ) -- A rabbi walks into St. Peter 's Square , meets the pope , and tells the Holy Father that one way to defuse the sex abuse scandal plaguing the church is for the Vatican to begin promoting a secular version of Shabbat dinner , the traditional Jewish Friday meal . It 's no joke . A prominent American rabbi , Shmuley Boteach , spoke briefly to Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday about encouraging parents to eat dinner with their children as a way for the Vatican to re-establish its pro-family image , which has been battered by the priest sex abuse scandal , Boteach said . The brief exchange came after the pope 's regular Wednesday address at the Vatican , during which Boteach was seated on a dais along with other Vatican guests . When he met Benedict on a receiving line afterward , Boteach pitched him on his family dinner initiative , called `` Turn Friday Night into Family Night . '' `` I said ... 'If the church embraces an initiative like this , which is positive , it could put a lot of the scandal behind it , ' '' Boteach said , recounting his chat with the pope . `` People will see the church does n't just speak about opposition to gay marriage and abortion . ' '' The pope appeared to be receptive to the idea , Boteach said. `` 'We have to work together on this , we have to work together on this , ' `` Boteach quoted the pope as saying . But , Benedict did not make a firm commitment to the family dinner initiative , the rabbi said . The Vatican was not immediately available for comment . `` The church is now perceived as not being a champion of families because the scandal has hit with so much force , '' Boteach said . `` I came ( to the Vatican ) as a friend and as someone who is critical as well . Because my criticism is real , the church knows my friendship is real . '' Following his talk with the pope , Boteach said he was invited to meet with Cardinal Walter Kasper , who spearheads the Vatican 's Jewish outreach , with whom Boteach fleshed out his criticism of the church 's response to priestly sex abuse . Boteach was invited to the Vatican to look over documents related to Pope Pius XII , the Holocaust-era church leader who Benedict has signaled he would like to move closer to sainthood . The rabbi has been a spiritual adviser to Michael Jackson , who died last year , and a frequent guest on Oprah Winfrey 's talk show . A number of recent Vatican actions have caused tensions between the church and the Jewish world . Last year , Benedict lifted the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop , Richard Williamson . Earlier this month , the pope 's personal preacher compared the fury over sexual abuse within the church to anti-Semitism , though the priest , the Rev . Raniero Cantalamessa , later apologized . But Boteach has been impressed by the Vatican 's overtures to him and to other Jewish leaders . `` I thinks he 's a friend to the Jews -- a very close friend , '' Boteach said of the pope . Boteach said that the Vatican had shown him documents from its private archive showing that Pius XII , a controversial figure among Jews , rescued Italian Jews during the Holocaust . But Boteach remains critical of Pius , saying he displayed `` absolute silence in condemning the Nazi Holocaust outright , which might have gone to great lengths to prevent it . '' The church has said that Pius would have put more Jews in danger by publicly condemning the Holocaust because it would have provoked the Nazis .
American rabbi Shmuley Boteach spoke to Pope Benedict XVI about dinner idea . Boteach calls his proposal `` Turn Friday Night into a Jewish Saturday Night.'' The pope is said to have approved the idea.