DAY 2 IN ISRAEL:
VISIT TO AL-AQSA MOSQUE
'THE DOME OF THE ROCK'
Photo inset in the right photo shows Mons. Gaenswein assisting the Pope in taking off his shoes before entering the mosque.
No pictures of the visit inside the mosque have been released so far.
Translated from the Vatican press bulletin:
At 8:45 this morning (Tuesday), the Holy Father Benedict XVI left the Apostolic Delegation residence and travelled by car to Temple Mount (called Noble Sanctuary by the Muslims) , arriving at the Dome of the Rock at 9 a.m. The Dome is the oldest Islamic temple of worship in the Holy Land.
He was welcomed by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the President of the Council of the Waqf (in charge of Islamic cultural treasures).
After a brief visit to the mosque, the Holy Father proceeded to the offies of the building of the "al-Kubbah al-Nahawiyya" for a meeting with important representatives of Jerusalem's Muslim community.
After greetings from his two hosts, the Holy Father delivered the following address:
Dear Muslim Friends,
As-salámu ‘aláikum! Peace upon you!
I cordially thank the Grand Mufti, Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, together with the Director of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, Sheikh Mohammed Azzam al-Khatib al-Tamimi, and the Head of the Awquaf Council, Sheikh Abdel Azim Salhab, for the welcome they have extended to me on your behalf.
I am deeply grateful for the invitation to visit this sacred place, and I willingly pay my respects to you and the leaders of the Islamic community in Jerusalem.
The Dome of the Rock draws our hearts and minds to reflect upon the mystery of creation and the faith of Abraham. Here the paths of the world’s three great monotheistic religions meet, reminding us what they share in common.
Each believes in One God, creator and ruler of all. Each recognizes Abraham as a forefather, a man of faith upon whom God bestowed a special blessing. Each has gained a large following throughout the centuries and inspired a rich spiritual, intellectual and cultural patrimony.
In a world sadly torn by divisions, this sacred place serves as a stimulus, and also challenges men and women of goodwill to work to overcome misunderstandings and conflicts of the past and to set out on the path of a sincere dialogue aimed at building a world of justice and peace for coming generations.
Since the teachings of religious traditions ultimately concern the reality of God, the meaning of life, and the common destiny of mankind – that is to say, all that is most sacred and dear to us – there may be a temptation to engage in such dialogue with reluctance or ambivalence about its possibilities for success.
Yet we can begin with the belief that the One God is the infinite source of justice and mercy, since in him the two exist in perfect unity. Those who confess his name are entrusted with the task of striving tirelessly for righteousness while imitating his forgiveness, for both are intrinsically oriented to the peaceful and harmonious coexistence of the human family.
For this reason, it is paramount that those who adore the One God should show themselves to be both grounded in and directed towards the unity of the entire human family.
In other words, fidelity to the One God, the Creator, the Most High, leads to the recognition that human beings are fundamentally inter-related, since all owe their very existence to a single source and are pointed towards a common goal.
Imprinted with the indelible image of the divine, they are called to play an active role in mending divisions and promoting human solidarity.
This places a grave responsibility upon us. Those who honor the One God believe that he will hold human beings accountable for their actions.
Christians assert that the divine gifts of reason and freedom stand at the basis of this accountability. Reason opens the mind to grasp the shared nature and common destiny of the human family, while freedom moves the heart to accept the other and serve him in charity.
Undivided love for the One God and charity towards one's neighbor thus become the fulcrum around which all else turns. This is why we work untiringly to safeguard human hearts from hatred, anger or vengeance.
Dear friends, I have come to Jerusalem on a journey of faith. I thank God for this occasion to meet you as the Bishop of Rome and Successor of the Apostle Peter, but also as a child of Abraham, by whom "all the families of the earth find blessing" (Gen 12:3; cf. Rom 4:16-17).
I assure you of the Church’s ardent desire to cooperate for the well-being of the human family. She firmly believes that the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham is universal in scope, embracing all men and women regardless of provenance or social status.
As Muslims and Christians further the respectful dialogue they have already begun, I pray that they will explore how the Oneness of God is inextricably tied to the unity of the human family.
In submitting to his loving plan for creation, in studying the law inscribed in the cosmos and implanted in the human heart, in reflecting upon the mysterious gift of God’s self-revelation, may all his followers continue to keep their gaze fixed on his absolute goodness, never losing sight of the way it is reflected in the faces of others.
With these thoughts, I humbly ask the Almighty to grant you peace and to bless all the beloved people of this region. May we strive to live in a spirit of harmony and cooperation, bearing witness to the One God by generously serving one another. Thank you!
At the end of the encounter, the Holy Father was driven by car to the Western Wall at the foot of Temple Mount.
WOW! I think this is the most beautiful text he has yet addressed to any Muslim audience - and does great justice to the awesome sacred history of the place.
PRAYER AT THE WESTERN WALL
The Israeli government released a photo (above, right) of the prayer that the Pope left in the Wall. (Presumably these prayers are gathered afterwards by the rabbis in charge of the Western Wall.)
Translated from the Vatican press bulletin:
At 10 a.m.. the Holy Father reached the Western Wall (also commonly known as the 'Wailing Wall'), a fragment of the original sustaining wall on the western side of Jerusalem's main temple destroyed by the Romans in 78 AD.
He was welcomed by the Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall and the President of the Foundation that administers this holy site, considered Judaism's most sacred.
The rabbi read a psalm in Hebrew, and the Holy Father read one in Latin, after which he approached the wall to say an prayer and, following tradtion, left a pryaer note in a crack of the wall, as John Paul II had done before him in 2000.
Pope visits Western Wall
Jerusalem, May 12 (dpa) - Pope Benedict XVI visited Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall, Tuesday, on the second day of a five-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Eyes closed, hands clashed in front of him, the Pontiff stood silently in front of the massive blocks which make up the wall, after carefully placing a folded prayer between its cracks, as worshippers have been doing at the wall for centuries.
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)
Before slowly approaching the wall, which had been cleared of worshippers for the papal visit, Benedict read out a prayer in Latin.
It was unclear whether the prayer he placed in the cracks of the wall was the same prayer he had read out.
Following his visit to the Western Wall, Benedict departed for a meeting with Israel's two chief rabbis.
POPE MEETS ISRAEL'S CHIEF RABBIS
Translated from the Vatican press bulletin:
After the visit to the Western Wall, the Pope was driven to the Hechal Schlomo Center, seat of the Grand Rabbinate in Jerusalem, for a courtesy visit with the two Chief Rabbis of Israel: Yona Metzger, Ashkenazi rabbi, and Schlomo Amaer, Sephardic rabbi.
After a private conversation and an exchange of gifts, the Pope delivered the following address:
Distinguished Rabbis,
Dear Friends,
I am grateful for the invitation to visit Heichal Shlomo and to meet with you during this trip of mine to the Holy Land as Bishop of Rome.
I thank Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger for their warm words of welcome and the desire they have expressed to continue strengthening the bonds of friendship which the Catholic Church and the Chief Rabbinate have labored so diligently to forge over the past decades.
Your visits to the Vatican in 2003 and 2005 are a sign of the good will which characterizes our developing relations.
Distinguished Rabbis, I reciprocate by expressing my own respect and esteem for you and your communities. I assure you of my desire to deepen mutual understanding and cooperation between the Holy See, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and Jewish people throughout the world.
A great source of satisfaction for me since the beginning of my pontificate has been the fruit yielded by the ongoing dialogue between the Delegation of the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s Delegation for Relations with the Catholic Church.
I wish to thank the members of both delegations for their dedication and hard work in implementing this initiative, so earnestly desired by my esteemed predecessor Pope John Paul II, as he said during the Great Jubilee Year of 2000.
Our encounter today is a most fitting occasion to give thanks to the Almighty for the many blessings which have accompanied the dialogue conducted by the Bilateral Commission, and to look forward with expectation to its future sessions.
The willingness of the delegates to discuss openly and patiently not only points of agreement, but also points of difference, has already paved the way to more effective collaboration in public life.
Jews and Christians alike are concerned to ensure respect for the sacredness of human life, the centrality of the family, a sound education for the young, and the freedom of religion and conscience for a healthy society.
These themes of dialogue represent only the initial phases of what we trust will be a steady, progressive journey towards an enhanced mutual understanding.
An indication of the potential of this series of meetings is readily seen in our shared concern in the face of moral relativism and the offences it spawns against the dignity of the human person.
In approaching the most urgent ethical questions of our day, our two communities are challenged to engage people of good will at the level of reason, while simultaneously pointing to the religious foundations which best sustain lasting moral values.
May the dialogue that has begun continue to generate ideas on how Christians and Jews can work together to heighten society’s appreciation of the distinctive contribution of our religious and ethical traditions.
Here in Israel, given that Christians constitute only a small portion of the total population, they particularly value opportunities for dialogue with their Jewish neighbors.
Trust is undeniably an essential element of effective dialogue. Today I have the opportunity to repeat that the Catholic Church is irrevocably committed to the path chosen at the Second Vatican Council for a genuine and lasting reconciliation between Christians and Jews.
As the Declaration Nostra Aetate makes clear, the Church continues to value the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews and desires an ever deeper mutual understanding and respect through biblical and theological studies as well as fraternal dialogues.
May the seven Bilateral Commission meetings which have already taken place between the Holy See and the Chief Rabbinate stand as evidence! I am thus grateful for your reciprocal assurance that the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Chief Rabbinate will continue to grow in respect and understanding in the future.
My friends, I express again my deep appreciation for the welcome you have extended to me today. I am confident that our friendship will continue to set an example of trust in dialogue for Jews and Christians throughout the world.
Looking at the accomplishments achieved thus far, and drawing our inspiration from the Holy Scriptures, we can confidently look forward to even stronger cooperation between our communities – together with all people of good will – in decrying hatred and oppression throughout the world.
I pray that God, who searches our hearts and knows our thoughts (Ps 139:23), will continue to enlighten us with his wisdom, so that we may follow his commandments to love him with all our heart, soul and strength (cf. Dt 6:5), and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev 19:18). Thank you.
After this meeting, the Holy Father proceeded to the Cenacle or Upper Room on Mt. Zion.
The tone of the Holy Father's remarks to the rabbis and other Jewish religious leaders reflect his familiarity with them from their work on the Bilateral Commission and their visits to Rome for that purpose.
But some militant Jews may fault him ytt again for not mentioning the Shoah nor the Nazis nor Germany and for not 'making an apology'. Watch for the next act of their 'Make the Christians pay their pound of flesh' psychodrama!
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/05/2009 04:09]