POPE BENEDICT XVI ended his Holy Land pilgrimage yesterday with a visit to the Holy Sepulchre Church where Jesus was crucified, and a departing message to Israelis and Palestinians to put an end to the fighting and bloodshed.
Speaking at Ben Gurion airport before flying back to Rome, the pontiff expressed the hope that “the two-state solution will become a reality not a dream”. He told Israeli president Shimon Peres, in a reference to Israel’s West Bank separation barrier, “one of the saddest sights for me during my visit to these lands was the wall”.
The pope added that he came to the Holy Land “as a friend of the Israelis, just as I am a friend of the Palestinian people”, and called for an end to tensions between the two.
“No friend can fail to weep at the suffering and loss of life that both peoples have endured over the last six decades. Allow me to make this appeal to all the people of these lands: No more bloodshed! No more fighting! No more terrorism! No more war!” the pope declared in his final message.
In his comments on the tarmac, with both Mr Peres and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking on, the pope also spoke about the Holocaust, in what appeared to be an attempt to respond to criticism from some in Israel earlier in the week following his visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.
“That appalling chapter of history must never be forgotten or denied,” the pope said, adding that “those dark memories should strengthen our determination to draw closer to one another as branches of the same olive tree, nourished from the same roots and united in brotherly love.”
President Peres thanked the pope for his visit to the Holy Land calling it “a profound demonstration of the enduring dialogue” between Jews and Christians.
He said his presence carried “substantial weight”, and he praised the pontiff’s remarks at Yad Vashem, which, Mr Peres said, represented a welcomed attack on Holocaust denial around the world.
Earlier, visiting the Church of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City, the pope urged worshippers “not to lose hope”.
After being welcomed by Catholic, Orthodox, Armenian, Ethiopian and Coptic clergy, the pope knelt down and kissed the stone slab on which the body of Jesus is believed to have been placed after the crucifixion. He then entered the small chamber marking the site of the tomb of Jesus and prayed alone for several minutes.
Summing up the eight-day pilgrimage, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said: “It was a trip in which the pope listened very much. He was also listened to, I think.” The visit was extremely well planned and passed off without any major hitches. It certainly acted as a morale boost for the region’s dwindling Christian communities, but if it will be enough to stem the exodus remains to be seen.
The Palestinians were encouraged by the pope’s clear messages of support for a two-state solution and criticism of Israel’s security barrier. Israeli officials expressed the hope that the trip will encourage more pilgrims to visit the Holy Land. The Holocaust remains the most sensitive issue in Israel and it was almost a mission impossible for a German-born pope who grew up in Nazi Germany to visit without upsetting some Israelis.
A cartoon in yesterday’s Ha’aretz newspaper showed an Israeli official at passport control at the airport asking the pope, one last time, if he wanted to express forgiveness (for the Holocaust).
The pontiff’s compassionate, pre-departure speech yesterday may have gone some way to soothing Israeli sensitivities.