Spinning the pilgrimage -- Israelis and Palestinians set the political agenda for the Pope

Poor Benedict! -- beset on all sides, with all parties attempting to set the agenda for him or put words into his mouth:

• Israel's leading rabbis on Tuesday told Pope Benedict XVI that it was his duty to spread the message that the Jewish people belong in the Land of Israel (Haaretz):

  "You represent a large nation of believers that knows what the Bible is, and it is your duty to pass on the message that the Jewish people deserve a renaissance, and a little respect - to live in this land," Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar told the pope.

• The Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammad Hussein Benedict XVI called Tuesday a "play an active role to put an end to "aggression" Israel against the Palestinians during the visit of the pope on the esplanade mosque (YNet News).

• The Jerusalem Post is claiming that "agreed that the Catholic Church will cease all missionary activity among Jews":

  In his welcoming address, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger thanked the pope for his announcement, calling it an "historic agreement and, "for us, an immensely important message."

  

  Metzger also congratulated the pope on his arrival to "our holy land - the land to which we prayed to return during 2,000 years of exile... And, with God's help, our meeting today is taking place in the Land of Israel, in our city of Jerusalem - the eternal capital of the Jewish people."

  "Missionizing" is a loaded term, practically speaking. On one hand, the Catholic Church distinguishes itself as not having a specific "mission to the Jews," or involving itself in overt attempts to convert. On the other hand, this is not to say that the Church abandons the Great Commission.

  
  For a good evaluation of where the Church actually stands on this question, see The discussion of the recent modifications of the prayer for the Jews for Good Friday , by Cardinal Walter Kasper (L'Osservatore Romano April 10, 2008) or "Judaism's Way of Salvation", by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn (The Tablet March 29, 2008).

  
  Given the complete lack of corroboration by any other news media (or actual citation of the Pope's words") relating to this particular story, I'm inclined to believe these Rabbis are actually spinning the Pope's words to fit a preconceived agenda.

• Mundher Amira, a Palestinian on the planning committee for the visit to Camp Aida, plans to ask Pope Benedict XVI to help him and other refugees return to their homes in Israel on Wednesday (Jerusalem Post):

  Statements like this, as well as plans for the pope at the camp, which had included hosting him on a stage next to the West Bank security barrier, have drawn harsh criticism from the Foreign Ministry.

  The Palestinians "have not missed any opportunity to politicize" Benedict's visit, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.

  "Their purpose is so clear and transparent you can read right through it. They are trying to divert the visit, to hijack it from being a pilgrimage with a message of interfaith reconciliation and unity and peace, and they are trying to draw him into political propaganda," Palmor said.

  Amira has no problem with introducing politics into the visit, because it is precisely those politics that make daily life for him and others in the camp difficult.

Was the Pope in the Hitler Youth? -- Benedict vs. Lombardi on the historical record.

The pope and Hitler Youth (Benedict’s own words), by John Allen, Jr. National Catholic Reporter:

During a press briefing in Jerusalem today, the Vatican spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, chided reporters for repeating what he called a falsehood – namely, the claim that the young Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was once a member of the Hitler Youth. "The pope was never in the Hitler Youth: never, never, never," Lombardi said.

Unfortunately for Lombardi, his assertion is contradicted by a fairly unimpeachable source: the future pope himself.

Pope’s Wartime Past Becomes an Issue, by Rachel Donadio (New York Times) In seeking to clarify Pope Benedict XVI’s association with the Hitler Youth, the Vatican further muddied the waters.

Pope Benedict XVI's pilgrimage to Israel -- dogged by critics from all sides

Sheikh Taysir al Tamimi's disruption of the interfaith meeting and Rabbi Meir Lau's lukewarm review of Benedict's remarks at Yad Vashem weren't the only stories of the day -- controversy dogged the Pope's heels as the cranks and the critics emerged from the far-right fringes.

• The Islamic Jihad condemned on Monday the visit of Pope Benedict XVI as a "gift to the Occupation," and said that his presence in Israel "ignores the suffering of the Palestinian people." (Jerusalem Post)

• Extreme right wing activists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel demanded on Monday that Pope Benedict XVI return looted Temple treasures in a criminal complaint they filed at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court (YNet News):

  The two also demanded a stay of exit order be issued against the pope and his three escorts arriving in Israel on Monday.

  Justice Ron Alexander rejected the petition later Monday, and ruled that, as the head of a state, the pope has international immunity.

• MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) arrived at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, accompanied by his parliamentary assistant Itamar Ben-Gvir, carrying signs against Pope Benedict XVI. "Border Guard forces removed Ben-Gvir from the area, but Ben-Ari remained due to his immunity."

Israeli right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir is carried away by border police officers, during a protest against Pope Benedict XVI's visit in front of Israeli President's residence in Jerusalem, Monday, May 11, 2009. Source: Associated Press

• Jerusalem Post reports that Police move "far-right" anti-pope protesters from Jerusalem's Palmah Street. No arrests were reported.

• Rabbi David Rosen, an advisor and member of the Chief Rabbinate's inter-religious relations committee and chairman of International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations, stated that the claims made against the pope in the past few days were "unfounded" and slammed the rabbis who voiced them. (YNet news):

  Talking to Ynet on Sunday, the rabbi clarified that "this is the same group of accusers from nine years ago, when Pope John Paul II visited. They know nothing about the Church and the changes in its views, and are certainly not ready to accept them."

  Rosen, who met with the pope in Rome about two months ago for a "reconciliation meeting" as a member of a Chief Rabbinate delegation, believes that the fact that Benedict was a member of the

  Hitler youth is insignificant, as "a person recruited against his will to such an organization does become a Nazi."

  According to the rabbi, "The only relevant thing is his attitude towards Judaism and Israel, which is consistently very good."

  (Prior to the papal visit, Rabbi Rosen penned a defense of the Pope: Pope Benedict and the Jews Jerusalem Post March 29, 2009).