May 13, 2009
BETHLEHEM - Palestinians scored a major political boost from Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the Holy Land as he called for a Palestinian state in several speeches and sermons and expressed empathy with the suffering of Palestinians on Wednesday.
“It is understandable that you often feel frustrated,” the Pontiff told residents living in the Aida refugee camp. “Your legitimate aspirations for permanent homes, for an independent Palestinian State, remain unfulfilled. Instead you find yourselves trapped, as so many in this region and throughout the world are trapped, in a spiral of violence, of attack and counter-attack, retaliation, and continual destruction.”
Earlier addressing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the Pope said: “the Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbors, within internationally recognized borders.”
Speaking in the shadow of the concrete barrier erected by Israel in response to terror attacks, the Pope appealed for an easing of Israeli security restrictions on Palestinians.
“Towering over us, as we gather here this afternoon, is a stark reminder of the stalemate that relations between Israelis and Palestinians seem to have reached – the wall. In a world where more and more borders are being opened up – to trade, to travel, to movement of peoples, to cultural exchanges – it is tragic to see walls still being erected.”
He also called on Palestinian youths to “have the courage to resist any temptation you may feel to resort to acts of violence or terrorism.”
The Palestinian Authority deployed 4,000 police throughout the city and closed several roads. The city was decorated with Vatican and Palestinian flags side by side and posters declaring, “Our Pope is our hope.”
If any group needed his support, it was the Palestinian Christians, a minority of just 2 percent whose numbers remain under threat by a flagging Palestinian economy, Israeli military control of the borders and Muslim persecution. The Pope personally encouraged Gaza Christians as well, 100 of whom were able to attend the mass in Bethlehem with special permission from the Israeli army.
“My heart goes out to the pilgrims from war-torn Gaza: I ask you to bring back to your families and your communities my warm embrace, and my sorrow for the loss, the hardship and the suffering you have had to endure,” the Pope said in his sermon at Manger Square. “Please be assured of my solidarity with you in the immense work of rebuilding which now lies ahead, and my prayers that the embargo will soon be lifted.”
Of Gaza’s 1.6 million population, about 3,000 Christians remain. The Pontiff bolstered Christian communities in the West Bank as well asking them to persevere and exhorting them to build up their churches, consolidate their presence and “offer new possibilities to those tempted to leave.”
The Christian population of Bethlehem, once at 80 percent, has gone down to 20 percent now. Many have left for safety, comfort and better opportunities in other countries. Rami El-Araj, a Bethlehem resident, said he attended Pope John Paul II’s mass in 2000 with a group of his friends.
“Now I’m alone - everyone left since then,” he said.
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