PAPAL HOLY LAND TRIP TO HAVE INTERRELIGIOUS FOCUS

Catholic.net
March 5 2009

JERUSALEM, MARCH 4, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will be taking
many steps to promote interreligious dialogue during his May trip
to the Holy Land, according to an unofficial itinerary. Jean-Marie
Allafort from "Un Echo d’Israel," a Christian newsletter in Israel,
spoke with ZENIT about the Pope’s unofficial schedule for the May
11-15 trip, though he said that "neither the Vatican nor the State
of Israel has published the official program," and some items are
still being discussed.

According to Allafort, the trip will include a visit to the Yad
Vashem Holocaust memorial, and a welcome from both the Israeli and
Palestinian Authority presidents.

Israeli President Shimon Peres is set to welcome the Holy Father on
May 11, and together they will visit the Yad Vashem, according to the
report. Later that evening, the Pontiff will attend an interreligious
meeting before proceeding to the apostolic nunciature where he will
reside during his stay,

On his second day in Israel, the Holy Father will meet with the mufti
of Jerusalem and then go to the Wailing Wall to take part in a ceremony
that will also be attended by the grand rabbis of Israel. Later that
morning, he will visit the rabbinate of Israel.

At noon, the Holy Father will pray in the Cenacle, where Jesus held his
Last Supper. And then he will visit the Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem
to meet and lunch with the Catholic ordinaries of the Holy Land. That
evening he will visit Gethsemane and celebrate a solemn Mass.

On May 13, the unofficial itinerary has Benedict XVI visiting
Bethlehem, where he will be welcomed by the president of the
Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and other Palestinian
leaders. There he will visit the Basilica of the Nativity and
celebrate Mass.

In the afternoon, he is set to visit a refugee camp near Bethlehem,
as well as a work of charity, though this latter site has not been
determined.

The program for Thursday, May 14, is still being considered, but the
Holy Father is expected to celebrate Mass in the morning in Nazareth
and meet with religious leaders of Galilee.

On his last day, the Bishop of Rome will visit the Orthodox patriarch
of Jerusalem in the patriarchate. Then he will go to the Holy Sepulcher
where he will be received by the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land,
and where he will be spend time in prayer.

Later that morning, he will visit the Armenian neighborhood of the
Old City of Jerusalem and meet with the Armenian Orthodox patriarch.

He is scheduled to leave Israel around 2 p.m. that afternoon.