The morning in Bethlehem
As St. Peter’s Square in Rome was exulting and there was great emotion over the beatification of John Paul II, the same was happening in the Holy Land.
On the second Sunday of Easter, Sunday of Divine Mercy, Karol Wojtyla was at the centre of the celebrations of the Holy Places, those places that eleven years ago he had visited and where – already suffering from illness – he had prayed.
Very many people came to the Foundation in Bethlehem that bears the name of the newly Blessed to attend the morning Mass presided by the Apostolic delegate for Jerusalem, His Eminence Antonio Franco, who in his homily recalled the steps of John Paul II in these lands and his words of hope for these peoples.
After the celebration of the Eucharist, Monsignor Franco unveiled and inaugurated – with the Bursar of the Custody of the Holy Land and Chairman of the Foundation for the Middle East Brother Ibrahim Faltas, and the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Salam Fayad – a statue dedicated to the Pope who has been beatified today.
Standing three metres high, made of marble by a Palestinian craftsman, it shows Wojtyla with his arms raised to the sky, in the gesture of greeting and benediction that many times he made on his many travels and in his countless encounters. Celebrating the “Pope of dialogue and work”, there were representatives from the Acli (Christian Associations of Italian workers) who celebrated thee beatification and Italian May day (dedicated to workers) falling on the same day.
Photos by Marie Armelle Beaulieu and Johny Michel
The afternoon at the latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
In the afternoon in Jerusalem, the concathedral of the Latin patriarchate hosted a Mass of thanksgiving in honour of John Paul II concelebrated by the Ordinaries of the Holy land and presided by His Beatitude the Patriarch Fouad Twal. The homily was pronounced by the Father Custos of the Holy Land, Brother Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
The mystery of the Risen One, the theme . of this Sunday – of the mercy of God “who opens up and opens his heart so we can enter, to welcome us inside", but above all, in the words of the Custos, the memory of Pope Wojtyla and his journey here on the occasion of the Jubilee in 2000, “a milestone in the path of the Church in its relationship with Judaism and Islam. The historic visits to the Western Wall and the mosques are still impressed in our memory.”
" In his pilgrimage,” Father Pizzaballa continued, “the Holy Father said: ´For all of us Jerusalem, as its name says, is the City of Peace.´ In many circumstances the Pope raised his voice to invoke the gift of peace, for this city, for the Holy Land, for the Middle East and for the whole world! The Holy land was always uppermost in his thoughts and concerns. In this context of ours, lacerated by hatred and divisions, perennial tension, grudges and above all fear, the voice of John Paul II was always raised with authoritativeness to invite all the sides to meet, overcome reciprocal hostilities but above all the abandon every form of violence, which can only lead to other violence."
The Custos, in conclusion, quoted the words of the last book by the Pope, today Blessed, "Memory and Identity": "It is not easy to forget evil that has been directly experienced, We can only forgive it. And what does forgiving mean, except appealing to the good that is greater than any evil? The Redemption is the divine limit imposed on evil. Is this also the answer to the evil of our time? In the mystery of the Redemption, the victory of Christ over evil is given to man not only for his personal advantage, but also as a task."
Photos by Andres Bergamini
Article by Serena Picariello
As St. Peter’s Square in Rome was exulting and there was great emotion over the beatification of John Paul II, the same was happening in the Holy Land.
On the second Sunday of Easter, Sunday of Divine Mercy, Karol Wojtyla was at the centre of the celebrations of the Holy Places, those places that eleven years ago he had visited and where – already suffering from illness – he had prayed.
Very many people came to the Foundation in Bethlehem that bears the name of the newly Blessed to attend the morning Mass presided by the Apostolic delegate for Jerusalem, His Eminence Antonio Franco, who in his homily recalled the steps of John Paul II in these lands and his words of hope for these peoples.
After the celebration of the Eucharist, Monsignor Franco unveiled and inaugurated – with the Bursar of the Custody of the Holy Land and Chairman of the Foundation for the Middle East Brother Ibrahim Faltas, and the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Salam Fayad – a statue dedicated to the Pope who has been beatified today.
Standing three metres high, made of marble by a Palestinian craftsman, it shows Wojtyla with his arms raised to the sky, in the gesture of greeting and benediction that many times he made on his many travels and in his countless encounters. Celebrating the “Pope of dialogue and work”, there were representatives from the Acli (Christian Associations of Italian workers) who celebrated thee beatification and Italian May day (dedicated to workers) falling on the same day.
Photos by Marie Armelle Beaulieu and Johny Michel
The afternoon at the latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
In the afternoon in Jerusalem, the concathedral of the Latin patriarchate hosted a Mass of thanksgiving in honour of John Paul II concelebrated by the Ordinaries of the Holy land and presided by His Beatitude the Patriarch Fouad Twal. The homily was pronounced by the Father Custos of the Holy Land, Brother Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
The mystery of the Risen One, the theme . of this Sunday – of the mercy of God “who opens up and opens his heart so we can enter, to welcome us inside", but above all, in the words of the Custos, the memory of Pope Wojtyla and his journey here on the occasion of the Jubilee in 2000, “a milestone in the path of the Church in its relationship with Judaism and Islam. The historic visits to the Western Wall and the mosques are still impressed in our memory.”
" In his pilgrimage,” Father Pizzaballa continued, “the Holy Father said: ´For all of us Jerusalem, as its name says, is the City of Peace.´ In many circumstances the Pope raised his voice to invoke the gift of peace, for this city, for the Holy Land, for the Middle East and for the whole world! The Holy land was always uppermost in his thoughts and concerns. In this context of ours, lacerated by hatred and divisions, perennial tension, grudges and above all fear, the voice of John Paul II was always raised with authoritativeness to invite all the sides to meet, overcome reciprocal hostilities but above all the abandon every form of violence, which can only lead to other violence."
The Custos, in conclusion, quoted the words of the last book by the Pope, today Blessed, "Memory and Identity": "It is not easy to forget evil that has been directly experienced, We can only forgive it. And what does forgiving mean, except appealing to the good that is greater than any evil? The Redemption is the divine limit imposed on evil. Is this also the answer to the evil of our time? In the mystery of the Redemption, the victory of Christ over evil is given to man not only for his personal advantage, but also as a task."
Photos by Andres Bergamini
Article by Serena Picariello