It is hard to believe that it has been nine years since the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to the Holy Land. The pope described quite aptly the feeling felt by our group in 2000 when he arrived and said, “Today, it is with profound emotion that I set foot in the land where God chose to ‘pitch his tent,’ and made it possible for man to encounter him more directly. In this year of the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, it has been my strong personal desire to come here and pray in the most important places which have seen God’s interventions, the wonders he has done from ancient times.”
In many ways Pope John Paul’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Israel in the year 2000 was the highlight of his many papal visits and pilgrimages. His visit to the cradle of Christianity bore historical, emotional and spiritual meaning not only for Christianity but also for the Jewish people. As “the apostle of peace and reconciliation,” his visit to Israel was an additional step towards deepening Christian — Jewish reconciliation.
Pope John Paul during his trip said, “While this focus on the Holy Land expresses the Christian duty to remember, it also seeks to honor the deep bond which Christians continue to have with the Jewish people, from whom Christ came according to the flesh. Much ground has been covered in recent years — especially since the Second Vatican Council — in opening a fruitful dialogue with the people whom God chose as the first recipients of his promises and of the Covenant. The Jubilee must be another opportunity to deepen the sense of the bonds that unite us, helping to remove the misunderstandings once and for all which, sadly, have so often marked the relationship between Christians and Jews with bitterness throughout the centuries.”
And who could ever forget the poignant words that he placed at the Western Wall? The prayer which he placed in the crevice of the stones read as follows: “God of our fathers, You chose Abraham and his descendants to bring Your Name to the nations. We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of Yours to suffer, and, asking Your forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant.”
On May 11, Pope Benedict XVI will begin his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He has announced that this visit is a mission of peace and reconciliation: “I will make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to ask the Lord, while visiting the places sanctified by his earthly life, for the precious gift of unity and peace, for the Middle East and for all humanity.”
He went on to explain: “I am preparing to visit Israel, a land which is holy for Christians as well as Jews, since the roots of our faith are to be found there. Indeed, the Church draws its sustenance from the root of that good olive tree, the people of Israel, into which have been grafted the wild olive branches of the Gentiles.”
Pope Benedict’s pilgrimage will take him to Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem. He will arrive on May 11 and be officially welcomed by President Shimon Peres. He will than visit, as did his predecessor, Yad Vashem (The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority) in Jerusalem to show his solidarity with the Jewish people and his acknowledgement of the horrors of the Holocaust. On May 12 he will visit the Temple Mount and meet with the Grand Mufti. He will also visit the Western Wall accompanied by the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He will than meet and dialogue with the Chief Rabbis at the Heichal Shlomo Synagogue. He will visit Mount Zion and the Coenaculum (room of the Last Supper). He will visit Gethsemane Church and say Mass at the Kidron Valley. On May 13, he will say Mass at Manger Square in Bethlehem. On May 14, he will visit the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth and say Mass at Precipice Mountain. Before his departure on May 15, he will visit one of the holiest shrines on earth, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
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The World Seen From Rome
Catholic News Service
