DAY 3 - MASS IN AMMAN
International Stadium
Some establishing shots first. Too many pics to process quickly...
Pope holds public mass
on final day of Jordan tour
AMMAN, May 10 (AFP) — Tens of thousands of Jordanians greeted Pope Benedict XVI as he prepared to say Mass at an open-air football stadium in Amman on Sunday, on the final day of his Holy Land trip to Jordan.
He entered the stadium in his bullet-proof glass-topped popemobile and circled the field once as thousands of people greeted him, singing in Arabic "Yes to love, yes to peace."
Many people held up Jordanian and Vatican flags, while others waved white ribbons in a sign of peace.
The Pope will later visit Bethany on the east bank of the River Jordan where Christians believe Jesus was baptised before travelling on to Israel on Monday as he follows his Holy Land pilgrimage in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
Refaat Badr, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Jordan, said 70,000 people were invited to attend the mass, and the Jordanian government has issued a decree allowing Christians to take leave to attend papal functions.
On Saturday, the 82-year-old Pontiff urged inter-faith reconciliation but
disappointed Muslim clerics [How many clerics? All of them, as the statement implies? Or the few whom the reportere sought out?] by failing to offer a new apology for remarks seen as targeting Islam.
In a keynote address to Muslim leaders in Amman's huge Al-Hussein Mosque, he bemoaned the "ideological manipulation of religion" and urged Muslims and Christians to unite as "worshippers of God."
"Certainly, the contradiction of tensions and divisions between the followers of different religious traditions, sadly, cannot be denied," the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics told his audience.
"However, is it not also the case that often it is the ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends, that is the real catalyst for tension and division, and at times even violence in society?"
Some clerics [There you are!] were disappointed that his wide-ranging speech made no new apology for a 2006 address in which he quoted a medieval Christian emperor who criticised some teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as "evil and inhuman."
The Pontiff apologised at the time for the "unfortunate misunderstanding."
Some Muslim leaders wanted him to go further. "We wanted him to clearly apologise," Sheikh Yusef Abu Hussein, mufti of the southern city of Karak.
But Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed, King Abdullah II's advisor on religious affairs who hosted the Pontiff during his mosque visit, was more conciliatory.
"I would like to thank you for expressing regret over the lecture in 2006, which hurt the feelings of Muslims," said Ghazi, whose country has a Christian minority of about 200,000 out of a six-million population.
Pope Benedict did not remove his shoes at the mosque, as is customary in Muslim shrines, but a spokesman
insisted he had not been asked to do so as he used a special walkway.
[There was nothing to insist on. The hosts of the ultra-modern mosque know how to provide for non-Muslim guests. Prince Ghazi and the other Jordanians who took the Pope and his party around were all wearing their shoes too!
To omit mentioning this - and that the Pope was about to take his shoes off when his host told him it wasn't necessary - gives the wrong impression.]
On his arrival in Amman on Friday at the start of his eight-day tour, Benedict underlined his "deep respect" for Islam.
Pressing the theme of reconciliation during a visit on Saturday to Mount Nebo, where Biblical tradition says God showed Moses the Promised Land, Benedict urged Christians and Jews to bridge their divides.
"The ancient tradition of pilgrimage to the holy places also reminds us of the inseparable bond between the Church and the Jewish people," Benedict said.
In his speech at the Amman mosque, Benedict urged the world to make every effort to protect the beleaguered Christian minority in war-battered Iraq.
On Monday, the Pope will flying to Israel where he is also expected again to focus on building bridges between the faiths.
Israel and the Vatican have clashed in recent months over the papal decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop, Richard Williamson of Britain, and over moves to beatify Pope Pius XII.
The Jewish state reviles Pius for what it perceives as his passive stance during the Holocaust in World War II.
But Israel will also roll out the red carpet as it seeks to rebuild its image following its war on Gaza earlier this year that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
The Pope will also visit Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Yad Vashem, the Jerusalem memorial to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.
Pope Benedict XVI urges
Christians to persevere
May 10, 2009
AMMAN, JORDAN - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged Middle East Christians to persevere in their faith despite hardships threatening the existence of their ancient communities.
An estimated 20,000 people filled a Jordanian sports stadium as Benedict celebrated the first open-air Mass of his Middle East pilgrimage.
[
Le Monde reports 50,000 - "
The stadium seats 34,000, and Jordanian officials said they added 14,000 more chairs on the field to accommodate all pilgrims, many coming from Lebabon, Syira and Iraq."
Will translate full Le Monde article later.]
"The Catholic community here is deeply touched by the difficulties and uncertainties which affect the people of the Middle East," Benedict said, speaking in English, at the Amman stadium.
"May you never forget the great dignity which derives from your Christian heritage, or fail to sense the loving solidarity of all your brothers and sisters in the church throughout the world," he said.
Catholics from across the Middle East are attending the service. Many held up flags from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and other countries. They applauded the pope's words and shouted out his name.
The Mass was on the third day of Benedict's weeklong pilgrimage to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. The Pope was welcomed the stadium in Arabic by the Latin rite patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, who recalled that Jordan has taken in more than 1 million Iraqi refugees since the start of the war, some 40,000 of them Christians.
For years, the Church has been alarmed by the declining presence of Christians in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East, driven out by war and economic hardship.
In his homily Sunday, Benedict urged that the "material and moral assistance" Christians need will never be lacking.
He also paid tribute to Christian women in the region, saying many have "devoted their lives to building peace and fostering harmony."
Father Raymond Mousalli, an Iraqi priest, said there are about 20,000 Iraqi Christians in Jordan, and Iraqis of all faiths must sit together and find peace after years of war.
"The Holy Father speaks here, and his voice is heard in the Middle East especially by Iraqi Christians who are suffering a lot," Mousalli said.
Peter Samaan, 15-year-old Iraqi dressed in a white communion robe, said he hoped Benedict could one day travel to Iraq.
"We Christians want to return. We are strangers in this country." Samaan said, adding that his family fled Iraq to avoid persecution.
In the afternoon, Benedict was scheduled to travel some 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Amman to Bethany beyond the Jordan river, the site of Christ's baptism. He will also bless the foundation stones of Latin and Greek Melkite churches.
THE HOLY FATHER'S HOMILY
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I rejoice that we are able to celebrate this Eucharist together at the beginning of my Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Yesterday, from the heights of Mount Nebo, I stood and looked out upon this great land, the land of Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist, the land where God’s ancient promises were fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah, Jesus our Lord.
This land witnessed his preaching and miracles, his death and resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, the sacrament of a reconciled and renewed humanity.
As I pondered the mystery of God’s fidelity, I prayed that the Church in these lands would be confirmed in hope and strengthened in her witness to the Risen Christ, the Savior of mankind.
Truly, as Saint Peter tells us in today’s first reading, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Today’s joyful celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice expresses the rich diversity of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land. I greet all of you with affection in the Lord.
I thank His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, for his kind words of welcome. My greeting goes also to the many young people from Catholic schools who today bring their enthusiasm to this Eucharistic celebration.
In the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus proclaims: “I am the good shepherd… who lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn 10:11). As the Successor of Saint Peter, to whom the Lord entrusted the care of his flock (cf. Jn 21:15-17), I have long awaited this opportunity to stand before you as a witness to the Risen Savior, and to encourage you to persevere in faith, hope and love, in fidelity to the ancient traditions and the distinguished history of Christian witness which you trace back to the age of the Apostles.
The Catholic community here is deeply touched by the difficulties and uncertainties which affect all the people of the Middle East. May you never forget the great dignity which derives from your Christian heritage, or fail to sense the loving solidarity of all your brothers and sisters in the Church throughout the world!
“I am the good shepherd”, the Lord tells us, “I know my own, and my own know me” (Jn 10:14). Today in Jordan we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. As we reflect on the Gospel of the Good Shepherd, let us ask the Lord to open our hearts and minds ever more fully to hear his call.
Truly, Jesus “knows us”, even more deeply than we know ourselves, and he has a plan for each one of us. We know, too, that wherever he calls us, we will find happiness and fulfilment; indeed, we will find our very selves (cf. Mt 10:39).
Today I invite the many young people here present to consider how the Lord is calling you to follow him and to build up his Church. Whether it be in the priestly ministry, in consecrated life or in the sacrament of marriage, Jesus needs you to make his voice heard and to work for the growth of his Kingdom.
In today’s second reading, Saint John invites us to “think of the love that the Father has lavished on us” by making us his adopted children in Christ. Hearing these words should make us grateful for the experience of the Father’s love which we have had in our families, from the love of our fathers and mothers, our grandparents, our brothers and sisters.
During the celebration of the present Year of the Family, the Church throughout the Holy Land has reflected on the family as a mystery of life-giving love, endowed in God’s plan with its own proper calling and mission: to radiate the divine Love which is the source and the ultimate fulfilment of all the other loves of our lives.
May every Christian family grow in fidelity to its lofty vocation to be a true school of prayer, where children learn a sincere love of God, where they mature in self-discipline and concern for the needs of others, and where, shaped by the wisdom born of faith, they contribute to the building of an ever more just and fraternal society.
The strong Christian families of these lands are a great legacy handed down from earlier generations. May today’s families be faithful to that impressive heritage, and never lack the material and moral assistance they need to carry out their irreplaceable role in service to society.
An important aspect of your reflection during this Year of the Family has been the particular dignity, vocation and mission of women in God’s plan.
How much the Church in these lands owes to the patient, loving and faithful witness of countless Christian mothers, religious Sisters, teachers, doctors and nurses! How much your society owes to all those women who in different and at times courageous ways have devoted their lives to building peace and fostering love!
From the very first pages of the Bible, we see how man and woman, created in the image of God, are meant to complement one another as stewards of God’s gifts and partners in communicating his gift of life, both physical and spiritual, to our world.
Sadly, this God-given dignity and role of women has not always been sufficiently understood and esteemed. The Church, and society as a whole, has come to realize how urgently we need what the late Pope John Paul II called the “prophetic charism” of women (cf. Mulieris Dignitatem, 29) as bearers of love, teachers of mercy and artisans of peace, bringing warmth and humanity to a world that all too often judges the value of a person by the cold criteria of usefulness and profit.
By its public witness of respect for women, and its defence of the innate dignity of every human person, the Church in the Holy Land can make an important contribution to the advancement of a culture of true humanity and the building of the civilization of love.
Dear friends, let us return to the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel. I believe that they contain a special message for you, his faithful flock in these lands where he once dwelt. “The good shepherd”, he tells us, “lays down his life for his sheep.”
At the beginning of this Mass, we asked the Father to “give us new strength from the courage of Christ our shepherd”, who remained steadfast in fidelity to the Father’s will (cf. Opening Prayer, Mass of the Fourth Sunday of Easter).
May the courage of Christ our shepherd inspire and sustain you daily in your efforts to bear witness to the Christian faith and to maintain the Church’s presence in the changing social fabric of these ancient lands.
Fidelity to your Christian roots, fidelity to the Church’s mission in the Holy Land, demands of each of you a particular kind of courage: the courage of conviction, born of personal faith, not mere social convention or family tradition; the courage to engage in dialogue and to work side by side with other Christians in the service of the Gospel and solidarity with the poor, the displaced, and the victims of profound human tragedies; the courage to build new bridges to enable a fruitful encounter of people of different religions and cultures, and thus to enrich the fabric of society. It also means bearing witness to the love which inspires us to “lay down” our lives in the service of others, and thus to counter ways of thinking which justify “taking” innocent lives.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me” (Jn 10:14). Rejoice that the Lord has made you members of his flock and knows each of you by name!
Follow him with joy and let him guide you in all your ways. Jesus knows what challenges you face, what trials you endure, and the good that you do in his name.
Trust in him, in his enduring love for all the members of his flock, and persevere in your witness to the triumph of his love.
May Saint John the Baptist, the patron of Jordan, and Mary, Virgin and Mother, sustain you by their example and prayers, and lead you to the fullness of joy in the eternal pastures where we will experience for ever the presence of the Good Shepherd and know for ever the depths of his love. Amen.
At the end of the Mass, the Holy Father proceeded to the Regina
caeli prayers. The assembly , led by the Holy Father and the choir, sang the antiphons. The Pope read a brief message before the prayer:
MESSAGE AT REGINA CAELI
Dear Friends,
During the Mass I spoke about the prophetic charism of women as bearers of love, teachers of mercy and artisans of peace.
The supreme example of womanly virtue is the Blessed Virgin Mary: the Mother of Mercy and Queen of Peace. As we turn to her now, let us seek her maternal intercession for all the families of these lands, that they may truly be schools of prayer and schools of love.
Let us ask the Mother of the Church to look down in mercy upon all the Christians of these lands, and with the help of her prayers, may they be truly one in the faith they profess and the witness they bear.
Let us ask her who responded so generously to the angel’s call, and accepted her vocation to become the Mother of God, to give courage and strength to all young people today who are discerning their vocations, so that they too may generously dedicate themselves to carrying out the Lord’s will.
In this season of Eastertide, it is with the title Regina Coeli that we call upon the Blessed Virgin. As a fruit of the Redemption won by her Son’s death and resurrection, she too was raised to everlasting glory and crowned Queen of Heaven.
With great confidence in the power of her intercession, with joy in our hearts and with love for our glorious ever-Virgin Mother, we turn to her now and ask for her prayers.
MORE PICTURES FROM THE MASS:
All the liturgies in Jordan have been beautiful - with an eclectic musical mix that was always compelling. It was the first time I was hearing Byzantine liturgical music and distinctive Arabic music incorporated into a Latin rite Mass, and it worked very well.
The Vespers ceremony was exemplary, and to me, very unusual, as it incorporated Greek Orthodox liturgical conventions, which made it longer than usual. Part of the fascination was watching the Holy Father following the entire ceremony closely on his missal. Also, the liturgical theme was still the Resurrection.
Then, of course, that unexpected 're-consecration' prayer for celibacy by all the clergy present, starting with the Pope! The Eastern Churches celebrated Easter two weeks after the Roman Church, so all other holidays pegged to Easter are two weeks behind, and Saturday was the eve of Good Shepherd Sunday and the World Day for Vocations.
The use of a classical symphony orchestra for the Mass was very classy, and even the conventional Western music settings used in the mix were beautifully appropriate.
Just as important as the music was the element of design. It was evident at all Church-related events that either the organizers had a guiding aesthetic or it is second nature to them. Consider the colorfully charming interior of the little church at the Regina Pacis center.
The stadium altar was the most integrally conceived of all the outdoor Papal Masses for Pope Benedict so far.
It was obviously meant to simulate a Church, with a nave and two side 'altars'. The Good Shepherd was the central figure - very dramatic, I thought, and how fitting, not just for the feast day, but for the presence of the Holy Father - with another Christ figure and the Virgin dominating the side panels. [And they did not forget to honor their king at the same time by using a gigantic photograph of him with the Pope as a background for the grandstand.)
The altar and the ambo were covered with a dark bordeaux patterned fabric, the altar candles featured imsges of saints in the tradition of Christianc andles sold in the Holy Land, the altar Cross and the Gospel cover were both strikingly beautiful.
All the chairs they set out for the Holy Father were distinctive and appropriat, though I was almost taken aback by the opulent elegance of the chair used at the Baptism site. Simply because it was so unlikely to see it on a temporary stage out there in the desert. (When the cameras first showed it - before I realized that the King and Queen would not be staying for the religious service - I asked myself right away, "And what do the royal thrones look like?")
I think Bethany was also the first time that the backdrop for the Holy Father was a wall with a repeating logo - this has become standard in the past few years for VIP political events and important conferences. It works because it 'brands' an event unmistakably and visibly, so as long as the logo and theme are tastefully presented, it's a good 'awareness' device.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/05/2009 07:49]