Unfortunately the people in Jerusalem were not privileged to be on the streets to welcome Pope Francis . The Israeli Police closed all the roads that led to the areas which he was going to visit, and turned the city into a ghost town.
by Samia Khoury
Sunday the 25th was a special day for us Palestinians and for me personally as I was one of those privileged to be invited to meet the Pope in Bethlehem. I was part of a delegation of five to hand him a letter on behalf of the indigenous Palestinian Christians. His schedule was so tight that there was no time for me to read it, but as I handed it to him I told him what it is about; what else but the story of our life under occupation. I seized the opportunity also to present him with my book Reflections from Palestine, a journey of hope as well as the petition initiated by FOSNA (Friends of Sabeel North America) regarding Palestinian children prisoners in Israeli jails.
Sister Celestine, of the order of St. Joseph and a retired teacher is a great admirer of the Pope. She made a symbolic card for him with flowers from Palestine which I inserted in my book. The cleaning woman who has been begging the church for a larger house for her family of five begged me to deliver a letter she had written to the Pope. So I did. It will take him some time to read all the different letters, petitions and messages that were handed to him, but I am sure he will eventually get to each one of them. He seemed the kind of man who would do that.
Ever since Pope Francis took office, he broke so many of the traditions, most important of all was abandoning the official residence and moving into a humble residence. He even broke the dress code and abandoned the red shoes. He seemed so humble and compassionate, and his warm and sweet smile as I shook hands with him almost inspired me to give him a hug.
During the mass in Manger Square I was fortunate to have a seat on the second row in the middle which was exactly opposite the alter. It was an awesome feeling to be attending a live mass officiated by the Pope. Just as he was giving the blessing at the end of the service the call to prayer from the minaret next to the church of Nativity was raised. It had such a symbolic meaning as the words Allahu Akbar (God is great) came through the loud speaker while the worshipers were making the sign of the cross. It was more meaningful than ever as Israel continues to pass rules to exclude the Christians from the Palestinian community.
The visit to Bethlehem was very well organized, and went without a hitch. The municipality with a lady mayor and the committee in charge as well as the protocol people and security are all to be commended on a great job. And with such a humble Pope the atmosphere was very relaxed.
Unfortunately the people in Jerusalem were not privileged to be on the streets to welcome the Pope. The Israeli Police closed all the roads that led to the areas which he was going to visit, and turned the city into a ghost town.
Yet some of the young people of the Christian community were determined to challenge that and made arrangements with the Patriarchate to have presence on the way to the Holy Sepulcher where the Pope was going to meet the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. But the Israeli police deprived them even of that privilege, and there was a rough encounter whereby many of them got beaten up and thrown on the street.
Credit image:Mondoweiss Blog.
Christian woman thrown to the ground in Jerusalem when trying to meet Pope Credit image: Mondoweiss Blog.
This one precedes the other two. The woman appears to be in foreground.
The Pope heard about it through an SOS letter that was delivered to him, so during the evening service at the Gethsemane he added the following prayer:
” I wish to extend my heartfelt greetings to all Christians in Jerusalem: I would like to assure them that I remember them affectionately and that I pray for them, being well aware of the difficulties they experience in this city. I urge them to be courageous witnesses of the passion of the Lord but also of his resurrection, with joy and hope. “
The following is a link for a very nice and descriptive article by Daoud Kuttab about the Pope’s visit to Bethlehem which includes a photo of his visit to the Wall. I think that unplanned visit helped balance all the controversy about his visit to some of the Israeli sites. I hope you will enjoy reading it.
Source: Veterans News Now
Pope Francis exceeds expectations for Palestinians
by Daoud Kuttab
Al-Monitor
It is normal for popes to be loved and followed by Catholics. But the visit of Pope Francis to Jordan and Palestine has shown a Christian leader who is extremely popular in two countries where the Christian populations are quite small. Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land began in Jordan where a mass was attended by 30,000 believers, including many coming from nearby Lebanon, followed by a visit in the company of King Abdullah to the baptismal site of Bethany beyond the Jordan.
Jordan was instrumental in helping the pontiff avoid entering Palestine through the controversial Israeli-controlled Jordan River bridge. Taking advantage of the peace treaty with Israel, Jordanians facilitated the wish of the Vatican for the pope and his entourage not to cross any Israeli military checkpoints, by providing military helicopters for transportation to Bethlehem.
The official welcome by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Pope Francis paled in importance to what would happen next as the pope traveled through the streets of Bethlehem and drove by the Aida refugee camp, which is adjacent to the 10-meter (33-foot) wall that Israel has erected, encircling Rachel’s Tomb deep inside Palestinian areas.
Classic Palestinian Resistance!
For days before the visit, Palestinian youth and Israeli soldiers have been in constant battle. Two days prior to the visit, Israeli troops entered the Palestinian area and whitewashed the entire wall to prevent the pope from seeing the graffiti that has been filling it up. The night before the arrival of the pope, however, youth spray-painted new slogans, this time in English with the hope that as he drove by, the pope would learn about the aspirations of Palestinians to live in freedom.
Pope Francis not only read the graffiti, but ordered his driver to stop and, in an unplanned move, walked up to the wall, touched it and laid his head on it for a moment of prayer. The image of Pope Francis’ head on the wall soon went viral on social media and no doubt adorned front pages of newspapers around the world. Some social media sites compared this image to that of Pope John Paul II’s prayer at the Jewish Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Read the full story here at: Al-Monitor
