AT END OF MIDEAST TRIP, POPE SAYS PEACE POSSIBLE
By Matti Friedman

AP
15 May 09

JERUSALEM (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI assured his followers in the Holy
Land that peace is possible, as he ended his Mideast visit Friday by
putting aside the contentious issues he has confronted and coming as
a pilgrim to the site of Jesus’ crucifixion.

A traditional escort of men in black robes and red fezzes accompanied
the pontiff as he solemnly walked into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
in Jerusalem, rhythmically banging staffs on the ground to announce
his approach.

Benedict knelt down and kissed the rectangular stone on which Jesus’
body is believed to have been placed after the crucifixion. Then he
entered the structure inside the church marking the site of Jesus’
tomb and knelt inside alone for several minutes, hands clasped,
as priests chanted nearby.

In a speech afterward, he told those gathered in the church not to
lose hope — a central theme during a visit in which he addressed the
Holocaust, Israeli-Palestinian politics and the shrinking number of
Christians in the region.

"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 fami ly, and in
a special way for the people who dwell in this land so dear to the
heart of the Savior," he said.

With those "words of encouragement," he said, "I conclude my pilgrimage
to the holy places of our redemption and rebirth in Christ."

Thousands of soldiers and policemen were deployed Friday around
Jerusalem’s Old City for the pope’s visit to the ancient church,
which tradition holds marks the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial
and resurrection.

"On the last day of his visit the pope is coming to the most
important place for us," said Father Bernt, a Catholic priest at the
church. "This is the center of Christianity, so it’s very special."

Benedict also met with the city’s Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox
patriarchs, part of the outreach effort toward Orthodox Christians
that he has made a keystone of his papacy.

The pope is leaving the Holy Land having fulfilled his mission of
reaching out to Jews and Muslims, but some are giving his five-day
trip only mixed reviews. It was his first visit to Israel and the
Palestinian territories as pontiff.

During his visit, he led 50,000 worshippers in a jubilant Mass outside
of Nazareth, in an effort to rally his dwindling flock. He removed his
shoes to enter Islam’s third-holiest shrine, and he followed Jewish
custom by placing a note bearing a prayer for peace in the cracks of
the Western Wall.

He won appreciation from Palestin ians for endorsing their call for
an independent state. But some Israelis were disappointed with his
treatment of the Holocaust, saying he could have gone further in a
speech at the country’s national Holocaust memorial.

The pope eloquently spoke of the suffering of Holocaust victims but
did not follow the lead of his predecessor, John Paul II, in expressing
remorse for the church’s historic persecution of Jews. Neither did he
discuss what some believe to have been the church’s passivity during
the Nazi genocide or his own time as a member of the Hitler Youth.

Those perceived omissions led officials at the Yad Vashem memorial
to take the exceptional step of openly criticizing the speech.

Associated Press Writer Ariel David contributed to this report.