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The Pope and his Jewish Maestro

The Pope and his Jewish Maestro
The Pope and his Jewish Maestro 11:28

"Do you ever pinch yourself and wonder how you got here?"

That's the question 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon asked American conductor Gilbert Levine in 2001.

"Every day," Levine replied. "Every single day."

At the time, Pope John Paul II had just conferred a Vatican knighthood on Levine.It was the first time a musician had been knighted by a pope since Mozart. Aired in 2001 on 60 Minutes, this is the story of how an unlikely friendship between a pope and a "nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn" helped changed relations between Jews and Christians forever.

And if that's not enough, there's also a pope joke in this piece-- as told by the Pope himself. Here at 60 Minutes Overtime, we've decided to use the holiday season as an excuse to post this wonderful classic piece online. This is one story that shouldn't be buried in the CBS archives.

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Pope John Paul II and conductor Gilbert Levine in December 1988
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