More than 40,000 Attend Nazareth Mass

May 14, 2009

From an amphitheater built specifically for this mass, Pope Benedict XVI exhorted Christians and Muslims in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth to repair damaged relations between them and to “find the way to a peaceful coexistence.”

The Galilean city, with a 30 percent Christian population, has been marred by tensions in recent years between Christians and the Muslim majority. Muslims tried to build an unauthorized mosque that would have towered over the Basilica of the Annunciation, but the Israeli government put a stop to the construction in 2002 and offered alternative sites for the Islamic house of prayer.

Tensions persist, however. Prior to the visit, the Northern Islamic Movement called on Muslim leaders to boycott interfaith meetings with the Pope. Benedict offended Muslims worldwide when he quoted in September 2006 a medieval description of the religion as “evil and inhuman” and ”spread by sword.” Benedict made it clear that the text did not reflect his own views, but Muslims violently protested in cities around the world and even attacked churches in Palestinian areas. 

Earlier this month, an imam strung up a banner across Nazareth’s main square warning the Pope: “Those who harm Allah and His Messenger – Allah has cursed them in this world and in the hereafter, and has prepared for them a humiliating punishment.”

Despite these threats though, Muslims, Druze, Jews and Christians participated in the interfaith dialogue in Nazareth and during a song about peace sung in three languages, the Pope and the representatives of different religions on the platform clasped hands and stood together - a far cry from the interfaith meeting in Jerusalem on Monday that ended abruptly after an Islamic judge  used the platform to criticize Israel in unscheduled speech.

The Pontiff also met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this afternoon to discuss the peace process and agreements on land and taxes between the Vatican and Israeli government. 

Some 40,000 worshippers attended the mass on the hill surrounding the 7,000-seat amphitheater, the biggest in Israel. The theater was built on Mount Precipice, where a mob tried to throw Jesus off a cliff according to the New Testament.

“This is first-class exposure and will encourage tourism in the future. We are expecting a wave of tourism following this,” said Mayor Ramiz Jaraisy told reporters prior to the mass. “We hope for a specific call from the Pope for people to come and make prilrimage to the Holy Land.”

At the mass, Archbishop of Galilee for the Greek Melkite Church Elias Chacour welcomed the pope and pled for his”moral and spiritual support” to stem the exodus of Christians from the Holy Land. The flight of Christians “fills me with pain” and that the future is not encouraging.

But while exhorting local Christians to stay in the Holy Land and calling on several occasions for a Palestinian state, the Pontiff failed to address Muslim persecution of Christians. He blamed the economy, limited movement and Israeli policies as the reasons Christians are leaving the Holy Land.

Tomorrow, the Pontiff will visit the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus is believed to have been crucified and buried, and Saint James Armenian Church before he returns to the Vatican.

Palestinians Boosted by Pope’s Call for Statehood

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.