In 1986, Pope John Paul II made history by paying a visit to Rome’s Great Synagogue.
In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI visited that synagogue again.
In 2016, Pope Francis visited for the third time.
As our ancient rabbis were fond of saying — and as Rome’s current chief rabbi Riccardo Di Segni pointed out during the papal visit on Sunday — an act repeated three times becomes a hazaqa, a fixed habit.