Pope Benedict XVI - Visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

Saint John’s Gospel has left us an evocative account of the visit of Peter and the Beloved Disciple to the empty tomb on Easter morning. Today, at a distance of some twenty centuries, Peter’s Successor, the Bishop of Rome, stands before that same empty tomb and contemplates the mystery of the Resurrection. Following in the footsteps of the Apostle, I wish to proclaim anew, to the men and women of our time, the Church’s firm faith that Jesus Christ “was crucified, died and was buried”, and that “on the third day he rose from the dead”. Exalted at the right hand of the Father, he has sent us his Spirit for the forgiveness of sins. Apart from him, whom God has made Lord and Christ, “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Standing in this holy place, and pondering that wondrous event, how can we not be “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37), like those who first heard Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost? Here Christ died and rose, never to die again. Here the history of humanity was decisively changed. The long reign of sin and death was shattered by the triumph of obedience and life; the wood of the Cross lay bare the truth about good and evil; God’s judgement was passed on this world and the grace of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon humanity. Here Christ, the new Adam, taught us that evil never has the last word, that love is stronger than death, that our future, and the future of all humanity, lies in the hands of a faithful and provident God.

The empty tomb speaks to us of hope, the hope that does not disappoint because it is the gift of the Spirit of life (cf. Rom 5:5). This is the message that I wish to leave with you today, at the conclusion of my pilgrimage to the Holy Land. May hope rise up ever anew, by God’s grace, in the hearts of all the people dwelling in these lands! May it take root in your hearts, abide in your families and communities, and inspire in each of you an ever more faithful witness to the Prince of Peace! The Church in the Holy Land, which has so often experienced the dark mystery of Golgotha, must never cease to be an intrepid herald of the luminous message of hope which this empty tomb proclaims. The Gospel reassures us that God can make all things new, that history need not be repeated, that memories can be healed, that the bitter fruits of recrimination and hostility can be overcome, and that a future of justice, peace, prosperity and cooperation can arise for every man and woman, for the whole human family, and in a special way for the people who dwell in this land so dear to the heart of the Saviour.

This ancient Memorial of the Anástasis bears mute witness both to the burden of our past, with its failings, misunderstandings and conflicts, and to the glorious promise which continues to radiate from Christ’s empty tomb. This holy place, where God’s power was revealed in weakness, and human sufferings were transfigured by divine glory, invites us to look once again with the eyes of faith upon the face of the crucified and risen Lord. Contemplating his glorified flesh, completely transfigured by the Spirit, may we come to realize more fully that even now, through Baptism, “we bear in our bodies the death of Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our own mortal flesh” (2 Cor 4:10-11). Even now, the grace of the resurrection is at work within us! May our contemplation of this mystery spur our efforts, both as individuals and as members of the ecclesial community, to grow in the life of the Spirit through conversion, penance and prayer. May it help us to overcome, by the power of that same Spirit, every conflict and tension born of the flesh, and to remove every obstacle, both within and without, standing in the way of our common witness to Christ and the reconciling power of his love.

-- Pope Benedict XVI, excerpts from Visit to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (May 15, 2009)

Pope Benedict XVI - Ecumenical Meeting of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Standing in this hallowed place, alongside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which marks the site where our crucified Lord rose from the dead for all humanity, and near the cenacle, where on the day of Pentecost “they were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1), who could not feel impelled to bring the fullness of goodwill, sound scholarship and spiritual desire to our ecumenical endeavors? I pray that our gathering today will give new impetus to the work of theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches, adding to the recent fruits of study documents and other joint initiatives.

Extending his arms on the Cross, Jesus revealed the fullness of his desire to draw all people to himself, uniting them together as one (cf. Jn 12:32). Breathing his Spirit upon us he revealed his power to enable us to participate in his mission of reconciliation (cf. Jn 19:30; 20:22-23). In that breath, through the redemption that unites, stands our mission! Little wonder, then, that it is precisely in our burning desire to bring Christ to others, to make known his message of reconciliation (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), that we experience the shame of our division. Yet, sent out into the world (cf. Jn 20:21), empowered by the unifying force of the Holy Spirit (ibid. v. 22), proclaiming the reconciliation that draws all to believe that Jesus is the Son of God (ibid. v. 31), we shall find the strength to redouble our efforts to perfect our communion, to make it complete, to bear united witness to the love of the Father who sends the Son so that the world may know his love for us (cf. Jn 17:23).

Some two thousand years ago, along these same streets, a group of Greeks put this request to Philip: “Sir, we should like to see Jesus” (Jn 12:21). It is a request made again of us today, here in Jerusalem, in the Holy Land, in the region and throughout the world. How do we respond? Is our response heard? Saint Paul alerts us to the gravity of our response: our mission to teach and preach. He says: “faith comes from hearing, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ” (Rm 10:17). It is imperative therefore that Christian leaders and their communities bear vibrant testimony to what our faith proclaims: the eternal Word, who entered space and time in this land, Jesus of Nazareth, who walked these streets, through his words and actions calls people of every age to his life of truth and love.

-- Pope Benedict XVI, excerpt from Ecumenical meeting in the Throne Hall of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem (May 15, 2009)

Citizens of Jerusalem welcome -- or in other cases, tolerate -- the papal pilgrimage

• The Jerusalem Police on Monday morning sealed off a conference hall at the Ambassador Hotel in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, following the Palestinian Authority's plan to hold a briefing for foreign and Palestinian journalists ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Israel (YNet News):

  The auditorium was closed due to an order signed by Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, following intelligence information received by the police. Officers from the Jerusalem central unit's minority division arrived at the place with additional forces and presented the order, issued in accordance with the "implementation law", which states that any PA activity in all parts of Jerusalem is forbidden.

  The Palestinian prime minister's advisor for Jerusalem affair, Khatem Abdel Kader, protested:

  "If the minister and the Israelis think that by closing the media center they can thwart our preparations to greet the pope and cover his visit – they are mistaken," he said.

A Palestinian man stands near a welcome note to Pope Benedict XVI on a wall near a section of Israel's separation barrier near the Aida Refugee Camp on May 12, 2009. May 12, 2009. Source: Associated Press

• Two Bethlehem University students were detained on their way to participate in an interfaith conference with Pope Benedict XVI Tuesday, university officials said (Maan News Agency):

  According to BU the two men were stopped and then denied entry to Jerusalem by Israeli authorities. The delegates were faculty members at the university, university alumni and Bethlehem-area natives. The reasons for their denial were not explained.

  “Unfortunately” the university commented, “this experience is common for our students, faculty and staff, many of whom navigate a maze of checkpoints, soldiers and other structures of military occupation simply to be present on campus.”

• For and against: Jerusalemites and the papal visit, by Abe Selig (Jerusalem Post):

  Residents of the capital exhibited a range of emotions about the pope's visit on Tuesday, as closed roads and beefed-up security snarled traffic and people were forced to either alter their routine, or suffer the consequences.

  "It was quite bad getting in this morning," one commuter said, as she sat outside a cafe near the city center. "But I heard that by the afternoon already, things were getting better."

  But others reflected on lost business and a general difficulty in getting things done, as Benedict's motorcade and a huge apparatus of Jerusalem police, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) agents and assorted government officials clogged parts of downtown throughout the morning.

• Haaretz reports that Pope Benedict XVI will be staying at the home of the Vatican's ambassador to Israel, located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem -- "standard protocol," according to Vatican officials.

• From Salt Lake City's Desert News, a story on Brigham Young University's Jerusalem Center, which is hosting 5 members of the Pope's entourage:

  "We're cooperating with them so that they're close by to where he is staying, and they're available to him and can easily travel with him wherever he goes," said S. Kent Brown, assistant director of the BYU Jerusalem Center.

  Brown, who has previously served as the center's director, said leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have maintained a good relationship with Archbishop Antonio Franco, the Apostolic Nuncio to Israel — or the papal ambassador to Israel — whose official residence is next door to the center.

• Depeche Mode, the pope and Lag Ba'omer (Jerusalem Post) -- while the arrival of the Pope and 80's rock band garner media attention, Yonatan Seredni reminds his Jewish readers of another celebration. (For more about Lag Ba'omer, click here).

Pope Benedict XVI - Mass in the Valley of Josaphat in Jerusalem

As the Successor of Saint Peter, I have retraced his steps in order to proclaim the Risen Christ in your midst, to confirm you in the faith of your fathers, and to invoke upon you the consolation which is the gift of the Paraclete. Standing before you today, I wish to acknowledge the difficulties, the frustration, and the pain and suffering which so many of you have endured as a result of the conflicts which have afflicted these lands, and the bitter experiences of displacement which so many of your families have known and – God forbid – may yet know. I hope my presence here is a sign that you are not forgotten, that your persevering presence and witness are indeed precious in God’s eyes and integral to the future of these lands. Precisely because of your deep roots in this land, your ancient and strong Christian culture, and your unwavering trust in God’s promises, you, the Christians of the Holy Land, are called to serve not only as a beacon of faith to the universal Church, but also as a leaven of harmony, wisdom and equilibrium in the life of a society which has traditionally been, and continues to be, pluralistic, multiethnic and multireligious.

Sadly, beneath the walls of this same City, we are also led to consider how far our world is from the complete fulfilment of that prophecy and promise. In this Holy City where life conquered death, where the Spirit was poured out as the first-fruits of the new creation, hope continues to battle despair, frustration and cynicism, while the peace which is God’s gift and call continues to be threatened by selfishness, conflict, division and the burden of past wrongs. For this reason, the Christian community in this City which beheld the resurrection of Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit must hold fast all the more to the hope bestowed by the Gospel, cherishing the pledge of Christ’s definitive victory over sin and death, bearing witness to the power of forgiveness, and showing forth the Church’s deepest nature as the sign and sacrament of a humanity reconciled, renewed and made one in Christ, the new Adam.

Gathered beneath the walls of this city, sacred to the followers of three great religions, how can we not turn our thoughts to Jerusalem’s universal vocation? Heralded by the prophets, this vocation also emerges as an indisputable fact, a reality irrevocably grounded in the complex history of this city and its people. Jews, Muslims and Christians alike call this city their spiritual home. How much needs to be done to make it truly a “city of peace” for all peoples, where all can come in pilgrimage in search of God, and hear his voice, “a voice which speaks of peace” (cf. Ps 85:8)!

-- Excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI, Mass in the Valley of Josaphat in Jerusalem (May 12, 2009)

Pope Benedict visits The Upper Room, Jerusalem

When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (Jn 13:1). The Upper Room recalls the last supper of our Lord with Peter and the other apostles and invites the Church to prayerful contemplation. In this vein we gather together, the Successor of Peter with successors of the apostles, in this same place where Jesus revealed in the offering of his own body and blood, the new depths of the covenant of love established between God and his people. In the Upper Room the mystery of grace and salvation, of which we are recipients and also heralds and ministers, can be expressed only in terms of love. Because he has loved us first and continues to do so, we can respond with love (cf. Deus Caritas Est, 2).

Our life as Christians is not simply a human effort to live the demands of the Gospel imposed upon us as duties. In the Eucharist we are drawn into the mystery of divine love. Our lives become a grateful, docile and active acceptance of the power of a love which is given to us. This transforming love, which is grace and truth (cf. Jn 1:17), prompts us, as individuals and communities, to overcome the temptation to turn in upon ourselves in selfishness or indolence, isolation, prejudice or fear, and to give ourselves generously to the Lord and to others. It moves us as Christian communities to be faithful to our mission with frankness and courage (cf. Acts 4:13). In the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his flock, in the Teacher who washes the feet of his disciples, you find, my dear brothers, the model of your own ministry in the service of our God who promotes love and communion.

-- Excerpt, Pope Benedict XVI: Regina Cœli prayer with the Ordinaries of the Holy Land in the Upper Room in Jerusalem (May 12, 2009)

Pope Benedict XVI at the Western Wall, Jerusalem

"God of all the ages,
on my visit to Jerusalem, the “City of Peace”,
spiritual home to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike,
I bring before you the joys, the hopes and the aspirations,
the trials, the suffering and the pain of all your people throughout the world.

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
hear the cry of the afflicted, the fearful, the bereft;
send your peace upon this Holy Land, upon the Middle East,
upon the entire human family;
stir the hearts of all who call upon your name,
to walk humbly in the path of justice and compassion.
“The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him” (Lam 3:25)!"

-- Prayer of Pope Benedict XVI, Western Wall, Israel

Day 5 - Pope Benedict in Jerusalem - Visits to Dome of the Rock, Western Wall and Upper Room; Holy Mass in Vally of Josaphat

On the Schedule Today (Tuesday May 12, 2009)

This post will be updated with news and commentary on the day's events

• 09.00 - Visit to the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount in Jerusalem
• Courtesy visit to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the Mount of the Temple
• 10.00 - Visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem
• 10.45 - Courtesy visit to the two Chief Rabbis of Israel at the Hechal Shlomo Centre of Jerusalem
• 11.50 - Regina Cœli prayer with the Ordinaries of the Holy Land in the Upper Room in Jerusalem
• 12.30 - Short visit to the co-cathedral of the Latins in Jerusalem
• 13.00 - Luncheon with the Ordinaries of the Holy Land, the Abbots and the Papal Entourage in the Patriarchate of the Latins in Jerusalem
• 16.30 - Holy Mass in the Valley of Josaphat in Jerusalem

Spoken words of Pope Benedict XVI

• Courtesy visit to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the Mount of the Temple (May 12, 2009)
• Prayer at the Western Wall (May 12, 2009)
• Courtesy visit to the two Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem at Hechal Shlomo Center in Jerusalem (May 12, 2009)
• Regina Cœli prayer with the Ordinaries of the Holy Land in the Upper Room in Jerusalem (May 12, 2009)
• Short visit to the Co-Cathedral of the Latins in Jerusalem (May 12, 2009)
• Mass in the Valley of Josaphat in Jerusalem (May 12, 2009)

Coverage and Commentary

• Pope strikes new balance in the Old City, by John Allen, Jr. (National Catholic Reporter)
• Pope to visit Jerusalem holy sites, by Alastair Macdonald (Reuters)
• Pope calls attention to fate of 'human family' at Dome of the Rock (Catholic News Agency)
• Pope in historic visit to al Aqsa, by Omar Karmi. (The National)
• At Western Wall, meeting with rabbis, pope prays for peace, by Cindy Wooden (Catholic News Service)
• Pontiff Speaks to Muslims of Love for God, Neighbor - Visits Site Dear to 3 Monotheistic Religions (Zenit News)
• Benedict XVI Considers Common Ground With Jews: Points to Shared Concern About Relativism (Zenit News)
• Pope Calls for End to Holy Land Exodus, Urges Communion in Diversity Among Churches (Zenit News)
• Jerusalem must fulfill its 'vocation' as a city of peace, urges Pope (Catholic News Agency)

Pope Benedict XVI visits Yad Vashem Memorial, Jerusalem

“I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name … I will give them an everlasting name which shall not be cut off” (Is 56:5).

This passage from the Book of the prophet Isaiah furnishes the two simple words which solemnly express the profound significance of this revered place: yad – “memorial”; shem – “name”. I have come to stand in silence before this monument, erected to honor the memory of the millions of Jews killed in the horrific tragedy of the Shoah. They lost their lives, but they will never lose their names: these are indelibly etched in the hearts of their loved ones, their surviving fellow prisoners, and all those determined never to allow such an atrocity to disgrace mankind again. Most of all, their names are forever fixed in the memory of Almighty God.

Sacred Scripture teaches us the importance of names in conferring upon someone a unique mission or a special gift. God called Abram “Abraham” because he was to become the “father of many nations” (Gen 17:5). Jacob was called “Israel” because he had “contended with God and man and prevailed” (Gen 32:29). The names enshrined in this hallowed monument will forever hold a sacred place among the countless descendants of Abraham. Like his, their faith was tested. Like Jacob, they were immersed in the struggle to discern the designs of the Almighty. May the names of these victims never perish! May their suffering never be denied, belittled or forgotten! And may all people of goodwill remain vigilant in rooting out from the heart of man anything that could lead to tragedies such as this!

The Catholic Church, committed to the teachings of Jesus and intent on imitating his love for all people, feels deep compassion for the victims remembered here. Similarly, she draws close to all those who today are subjected to persecution on account of race, color, condition of life or religion – their sufferings are hers, and hers is their hope for justice. As Bishop of Rome and Successor of the Apostle Peter, I reaffirm – like my predecessors – that the Church is committed to praying and working tirelessly to ensure that hatred will never reign in the hearts of men again. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God of peace (cf. Ps 85:9).

-- Excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI's remarks at Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem (May 11, 2009)

Custody of the Holy Land: "The Cedron Valley - site of Benedict's May 12th Mass in Jerusalem"

The Cedron Valley: the site of the mass in Jerusalem on 12th May - an introduction from the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land:

There are many churches in Jerusalem, but none would be large enough to hold the crowd wishing to attend the Mass of a Pope on his pilgrimage. ...

The largest Catholic church is the Church of all Nations, or of Gethsemane and holds 800 people, but that was still not large enough and so it was decided to hold the celebration in the open. The Franciscans offered a part of the land they acquired in 1666, which at the time was probably a single piece of land together with the Garden of the Olives. It was only later that history separated the two plots of land.

The Mass will thus be celebrated on the piece of land beneath the Garden of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane before an estimated crowd of some 5000 people.

Of the three sites chosen for Benedict XVI’s Masses, this is the one that offers the opportunity to follow in the steps of Christ. [More]