Visiting mosque, pope says believing in God means respecting others

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service



Jordan's Prince Ghazi Muhammad bin Talal accompanies Pope Benedict XVI during a visit to the new King Hussein Mosque in Amman, Jordan, May 9. (CNS/Reuters)


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AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- To believe in God is to pray, to be merciful and compassionate, to witness to the truth and to uphold the dignity of every person, Pope Benedict XVI said after visiting a monumental new mosque in Amman.

Acknowledging that much of the history of Christian-Muslim relations has been marked by misunderstanding and tension, the pope said it is faith that calls members of both communities to respect each other and join together to promote the common good.

The pope visited the King Hussein Mosque in Amman May 9, the second day of his eight-day trip to the Holy Land. It was his second visit as pope to a mosque; he made history in 2006 when he entered the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, and stood praying next to the imam.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters in Amman, "It would not be precise to say the pope prayed in the mosque (today), but it would be right to say he paused in respectful meditation in a place where numerous people also pray and meditate before God."

"The pope was prepared to take off his shoes" out of respect for the Muslim custom, Father Lombardi said, but he was not asked to do so because the Jordanians had unrolled a thick cloth for their guests to walk on.

Pope Benedict said the new mosque, with its copper-topped dome and four copper-topped minarets, and other places of worship "stand out like jewels across the earth's surface. From the ancient to the modern, the magnificent to the humble, they all point to the divine, to the Transcendent One, to the Almighty."

Entering a place of worship, people turn their minds to God and recognize that they are his creatures, the pope told the Muslim clerics and scholars, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of Jordanian universities present for his speech.

The common experience of knowing God is the creator and lord of all, he said, should lead all believers to witness to that knowledge by upholding the most noble aspects of their faith and by resisting all attempts to manipulate faith for political or ideological reasons.

"We cannot fail to be concerned that today, with increasing insistency, some maintain that religion fails in its claim to be by nature a builder of unity and harmony, an expression of communion between persons and with God," the pope said.

Many people in the world see religion purely as a motive of division, a concern that leads them to resist any attempt to allow the faith of an individual or group to influence public life and public policies, he said.

A central point of the pope's speech was the need to "cultivate for the good, in the context of faith and truth, the vast potential of human reason."

Reason is a gift of God, he said, and when people allow their intellectual capacities to be purified by faith, it helps them see beyond their own little worlds and their own interests.

"In this way, human reason is emboldened to pursue its noble purpose of serving mankind, giving expression to our deepest common aspirations and extending, rather than manipulating or confining, public debate," Pope Benedict said.

When faith and reason inform each other, he said, society is protected from "the excesses of the unbridled ego which tend to absolutize the finite and eclipse the infinite; it ensures that freedom is exercised hand in hand with truth, and it adorns culture with insights concerning all that is true, good and beautiful."

The relationship between faith and reason also was the central point in the pope's 2006 talk at the University of Regensburg, Germany, a speech that offended many Muslims because it included a quotation from a medieval Byzantine emperor, who said the prophet Mohammed had brought "things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith." The pope afterward clarified that he was not endorsing the emperor's words.

Although the pope did not refer back to the Regensburg speech in his address, his official host at the Jordanian mosque, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, thanked the pope for expressing regret "for the hurt caused by this lecture."

"Of course, Muslims know that nothing that can be said or done in this world can harm the prophet" Mohammed, the prince said, "but Muslims were nevertheless hurt because of their love for the prophet."

The Mohammed known, loved and emulated by Muslims "is completely and entirely different" from the figure often presented in the West, he said.

"It is incumbent upon Muslims to explain the prophet's example above all with deeds of virtue, charity, piety and good will," Prince Ghazi said.

The prince welcomed the pope as the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, a defender of moral values and as a promoter of ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.

"But most of all, we receive Your Holiness as a simple pilgrim of peace who comes in humility and gentleness to pray where Jesus Christ the Messiah, peace be upon him, prayed and was baptized and began his mission 2,000 years ago," he said.

The prince, who was instrumental in drafting and promoting the 2007 Common Word declaration of 138 Muslim scholars, told the pope that he and many other Muslim scholars were prepared to continue dialogue with the Catholic Church and find ways to serve humanity together.

Pope Benedict expressed his hope that "reason, ennobled and humbled by the grandeur of God's truth" would shape the life and institutions of Jordan so the people would flourish in peace.

At a press conference after the mosque visit, Father Lombardi said he would not agree that Pope Benedict had changed his mind about Islam, but rather had moved forward in a process of learning about Islam by meeting and speaking with Muslims.

"Sure, there has been a process, progress," Father Lombardi said.

Nawal Al Faoury, a member of the Jordanian Senate who attended the talk, said the pope's visit was positive for "dialogue and being together and common understanding about a lot of issues."

She said that, like the prince, she was satisfied that the pope did not mean to offend Muslims with his Regensburg speech, "and I think we have to forgive ourselves and others ... because we do want to live in peace all over the world."

Hamdi Murad, a professor of religious studies at the University of Jordan, said, "I am sure his visit opened a new, pure and white page for relations between Muslims and Christians.

"This also has closed that page that had some -- if we can say -- misunderstanding between Muslims and Christians. So we have many hopes and wishes for the future after this visit," Murad added.

- - -

Editors: Contributing to this story was Doreen Abi Raad in Amman.

END

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Pope Benedict’s remarks during visit with Israel’s president

By Carol Glatz

Posted on May 11, 2009

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VATICAN CITY — Here is the Vatican text of Pope Benedict XVI’s prepared remarks during a courtesy visit to Israeli President Shimon Peres at the presidential palace in Jerusalem:


Mr. President,

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As a kind gesture of hospitality President Peres has welcomed us here to his residence, enabling me to greet you all and to have this opportunity to share a few thoughts with you. Mr. President, I thank you for this gracious welcome, and for your courteous greeting which I warmly reciprocate. I also thank the musicians who have entertained us with their fine performance.

Mr. President, in the message of congratulations which I sent to you on the occasion of your inauguration, I gladly recalled your distinguished record of public service marked by a strong commitment to the pursuit of justice and peace. This afternoon I wish to assure you, together with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his newly formed government, and all the people of the state of Israel that my pilgrimage to the holy places is one of prayer for the precious gift of unity and peace for the Middle East and all of humanity. Indeed, I pray daily for peace born of justice to return to the Holy Land and the entire region, bringing security and renewed hope for all.

Peace is above all a divine gift. For peace is the Almighty’s promise to humanity, and harbors unity. In the book of the prophet Jeremiah we read: “I know the plans I have in mind for you -– it is the Lord who speaks –- plans for peace not disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer 29:11-12). The prophet reminds us of the Almighty’s promise that he can “be found,” that he “will listen,” that he “will gather us together as one.” But there is a proviso: we must “seek him,” and “seek him with all our heart” (cf. ibid., 12-14).

To the religious leaders present this afternoon, I wish to say that the particular contribution of religions to the quest for peace lies primarily in the wholehearted, united search for God. Ours is the task of proclaiming and witnessing that the Almighty is present and knowable even when he seems hidden from our sight, that he acts in our world for our good, and that a society’s future is marked with hope when it resonates in harmony with his divine order. It is God’s dynamic presence that draws hearts together and ensures unity. In fact, the ultimate foundation of unity among persons lies in the perfect oneness and universality of God, who created man and woman in his image and likeness in order to draw us into his own divine life so that all may be one.

Religious leaders must therefore be mindful that any division or tension, any tendency to introversion or suspicion among believers or between our communities, can easily lead to a contradiction which obscures the Almighty’s oneness, betrays our unity, and contradicts the One who reveals himself as “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex 34:6; Ps 138:2; Ps 85:11). My friends: Jerusalem, which has long been a crossroads for peoples of many different origins, is a city which affords Jews, Christians and Muslims both the duty and the privilege to bear witness together to the peaceful coexistence long desired by worshippers of the one God; to lay bare the Almighty’s plan for the unity of the human family announced to Abraham; and to proclaim the true nature of man as a seeker of God. Let us resolve to ensure that through the teaching and guidance of our respective communities we shall assist them to be true to who they are as believers, ever aware of the infinite goodness of God, the inviolable dignity of every human being, and the unity of the entire human family.

Sacred Scripture also presents us with an understanding of security. According to the Hebrew usage, security –- batah –- arises from trust and refers not just to the absence of threat but also to the sentiment of calmness and confidence. In the book of the prophet Isaiah we read of a time of divine blessing: “Once more the Spirit is poured upon us … and justice will dwell in the wilderness and integrity in the fertile land; integrity will bring peace, and justice everlasting security” (Is 32:15-17). Security, integrity, justice and peace. In God’s design for the world, these are inseparable. Far from being simply products of human endeavor, they are values which stem from God’s fundamental relationship with man, and dwell as a common patrimony in the heart of every individual.

There is only one way to protect and promote these values: exercise them! Live them! No individual, family, community or nation is exempt from the duty to live in justice and to work for peace. And naturally, civic and political leaders are expected to ensure just and proper security for the people whom they have been elected to serve. That objective forms a part of the rightful promotion of values common to humanity and thus cannot conflict with the unity of the human family. The authentic values and goals of a society, which always safeguard human dignity, are indivisible, universal and interdependent (cf. Address to the United Nations, 18 April 2008). Thus they cannot be satisfied when they fall prey to particular interests or piecemeal politics. A nation’s true interest is always served by the pursuit of justice for all.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, lasting security is a matter of trust, nurtured in justice and integrity, and sealed through the conversion of hearts which stirs us to look the other in the eye, and to recognize the “Thou,” as my equal, my brother, my sister. In this way does not society itself become the “fruitful field” (Is 32:15) marked, not by blocks or obstructions, but by cohesion and vibrancy? Can it not become a community with noble aspirations where all are willingly afforded access to education, family housing and the opportunity for employment, a society ready to build upon the lasting foundations of hope?

To conclude, I would like to turn to the ordinary families of this city, of this country. What parents would ever want violence, insecurity, or disunity for their son or daughter? What humane political end can ever be served through conflict and violence? I hear the cry of those who live in this land for justice, for peace, for respect for their dignity, for lasting security, a daily life free from the fear of outside threats and senseless violence. And I know that considerable numbers of men and women and young people are working for peace and solidarity through cultural programs and through initiatives of compassionate and practical outreach; humble enough to forgive, they have the courage to grasp the dream that is their right.

Mr. President, I thank you for the courtesy you have shown to me and I assure you again of my prayers for the government and all the citizens of this state. May a genuine conversion of the hearts of all lead to an ever strengthening commitment to peace and security through justice for everyone.

Shalom!



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Pope visits ancient biblical site, launches new university in Jordan

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service


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MADABA, Jordan (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI walked a pilgrim's path at one of the Holy Land's most ancient sites, then launched a project for the church's future in the region.

The pope began his first full day in Jordan May 9 with a visit to Mount Nebo, the place where Moses glimpsed the Promised Land before dying.

From a windswept promontory, the pope looked out over a biblical panorama that stretched from the Dead Sea to Jericho across the Jordan River, with the hills of Jerusalem in the far distance. The mount, called Syagha, is where Jewish and Christian tradition holds that Moses was buried by God himself, at a site that remains unknown.

Seated next to a stone monastic church that dates to the fourth century, the pope listened to an elderly Franciscan friar read from the Book of Deuteronomy, which described how Moses ended his days with a view of the land promised by God to the Israelites.

"The Lord then said to him, 'This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that I would give to their descendants. I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over,'" it read.

The pope stood in the sunshine and delivered a short speech, praising the tradition of pilgrimage and drawing a lesson from Moses' story. Moses reminds people today that they "are part of the ageless pilgrimage of God's people through history," he said.

"Like Moses, we too have been called by name, invited to undertake a daily exodus from sin and slavery toward life and freedom, and given an unshakeable promise to guide our journey," he said.

Christians are asked in a special way to prepare for Christ's kingdom through charity and service to the poor and by being agents of reconciliation in the world, the pope said.

"We know that, like Moses, we may not see the complete fulfillment of God's plan in our lifetime. Yet we trust that, by doing our small part, in fidelity to the vocation each of us has received, we will help to make straight the paths of the Lord and welcome the dawn of his kingdom," he said.

He ended his talk by recalling the "inseparable bond" between Christians and the Jewish people, who share the scriptural patrimony of the Old Testament. He expressed the desire to "overcome all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual respect and cooperation."

The pope then rode his popemobile to nearby Madaba, an ancient Moabite city mentioned several times in the Bible. As he passed slowly along the dusty streets of the city's Christian quarter, he was cheered by thousands of people who held flags, signs and photos of him.

The pope came to bless the foundation stone of the University of Madaba, the first Catholic university in Jordan, which is being built by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem with the support of the Jordanian government.

When completed in about two years, the university will have seven schools and 40 specialized fields of study. Like all of the more than 100 schools run by the church in the Holy Land, it will be open to students of all faiths.

In a speech to several hundred church leaders and civil authorities at the construction site, the pope said the university will be a place of understanding and dialogue, serving society by forming men and women in academic disciplines and sound values.

He said it was important for the church to demonstrate that belief in God does not suppress the search for truth -- although he added that religion, like science and technology, can be "corrupted."

"Religion is disfigured when pressed into the service of ignorance or prejudice, contempt, violence and abuse. In this case we see not only a perversion of religion but also a corruption of human freedom, a narrowing and blindness of the mind," he said.

The new church-run university will be a place where the "quest for truth goes hand in hand with the search for what is good and noble," he said.

Like many educational projects in the Holy Land, this one will rely largely on outside assistance from church agencies.

Bernard Waddingham, treasurer of the Lieutenancy of England and Wales of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, said it has not provided money for the Madaba university yet, but expects to.

A special focus of the order is the schools run by the Latin patriarchate in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. The organization funds an elementary school in Madaba.

END

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Visit to Israel: Leaders know, appreciate pope's teaching on Judaism

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service



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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Pope Benedict XVI prepared to visit Israel in early May, Jewish leaders involved in dialogue appeared to be hopeful and not particularly wary about what the pope would say.

On the other hand, many members of the Jewish community and Catholics sensitive to their feelings appeared to be holding their breath, praying that the pope would not inadvertently offend his hosts.

The difference stems from the fact that Jewish leaders know Pope Benedict's teaching about Jews and Judaism from his theological speeches and articles.

Speaking in Rome in March, Rabbi Michael Schudrich, the U.S.-born chief rabbi of Poland, said the Holy Land trip can be "very enlightening and help Pope Benedict show in a very clear way" the sensitivity and respect that has been clear in his writings for decades.

In evaluating the pope's work, Jewish leaders appreciate several facts: Pope Benedict explicitly recognizes that God chose the Jewish people as his own and established a special bond with them; he recognizes that for centuries Christians used Jesus' death as an excuse to denigrate -- and even persecute -- the Jews; and he understands that the contempt some Christians had for the Jews created an atmosphere that the Nazis easily and progressively manipulated to the point of killing 6 million Jews.

But theological work does not grab the headlines the way gestures do and a Vatican explanation of a papal misstep may limit the damage, but it is hard to eliminate all suspicion.

Those who are worried can't seem to shake their puzzlement over the fact that in January the pope lifted the excommunication of a bishop who minimized the Holocaust.

The Vatican later made it clear that Bishop Richard Williamson, a member of the Society of St. Pius X, who had denied the extent of the Holocaust, must publicly recant his views if he wants to function as a bishop in the Catholic Church.

Writing to the world's bishops in March, Pope Benedict said he was saddened that people seemed to jump to the conclusion that he was stepping back from efforts to promote reconciliation between Catholics and Jews and was rejecting the teaching of the Second Vatican Council.

"Precisely for this reason I thank all the more our Jewish friends, who quickly helped to clear up the misunderstanding and to restore the atmosphere of friendship and trust," the pope wrote after emphasizing the horror of the Holocaust and the importance of remembering it.

The papal apology was effective with the church's Jewish dialogue partners because they were able to put the issue into the perspective of what they knew about the German-born pope's thinking, especially from what he had published as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

The day the Vatican released the pope's apologetic letter, Pope Benedict met with a delegation from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, chief rabbi of Haifa, told the pope, "We thank the Holy See for making this renewal (of dialogue) possible by the clear and unequivocal statements deploring the Holocaust denial and making it very clear that the Catholic Church leaders are committed" to continue working for improved relations with the Jews.

In his remarks to the rabbis, the pope reaffirmed in summary form his understanding of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council that make respect, dialogue and reconciliation between Catholics and Jews possible.

"The church recognizes that the beginnings of her faith are found in the historical divine intervention in the life of the Jewish people and that here our unique relationship has its foundation," he said.

"The Jewish people, who were chosen as the elected people, communicate to the whole human family knowledge of and fidelity to the one, unique and true God," the pope said.

The teachings are the same as those meticulously spelled out by then-Cardinal Ratzinger during a speech to a major international Catholic-Jewish conference in Jerusalem in 1994.

The speech -- widely republished and included in Cardinal Ratzinger's book, "Many Religions, One Covenant" -- is such a clear synthesis of his thinking about Jews and Judaism that Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, included the full text in background materials for Vatican Radio reporters covering the trip.

The future pope began with an acknowledgment: "The history of the relationship between Israel and Christendom is drenched with blood and tears. It is a history of mistrust and hostility, but also -- praise be to God -- a history marked again and again by attempts at forgiveness, understanding and mutual acceptance."

The Holocaust, he said, was not simply a horror to be remembered, but it is a demand on humanity -- especially on believers in the one God -- to engage in a mission of reconciliation and mutual acceptance.


But respect for the Jewish people and their ongoing special relationship with God does not and cannot mean that the pope will not speak about the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ as he visits the land of the savior's birth, life, death and resurrection.

The pope is well aware, however, that for centuries Christians blamed the Jews, rather than human sinfulness, for Jesus' death and that attitude was at the root of the so-called "teaching of contempt."

It was a central topic in Cardinal Ratzinger's 1994 speech.

Even as a child growing up in Germany, he told his audience, "I could not understand how some people wanted to derive a condemnation of Jews from the death of Jesus because the following thought had penetrated my soul as something profoundly consoling: Jesus' blood raises no calls for retaliation, but calls all to reconciliation."

In the Bible, he said, "there are not two effects of the cross -- a damning one and a saving one -- but only a single effect, which is saving and reconciling."

END


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At first Communion Mass, pope preaches courage in following Jesus

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

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AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's only public Mass in Jordan was a liturgy like that found in many parishes in May: It was first Communion Sunday.

Dressed in white robes and seated close to the altar platform, dozens of children from all over Jordan received the Eucharist for the first time during the pope's Mass May 10 in Amman International Stadium.

Peter Mihko, 15, and his sister Cecilia, 11, were part of the first Communion group of 40 young people from Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic parish in Amman. Like many in the group, the Mihko siblings are refugees from Iraq.

"I'm going to receive my first Communion from the pope," Cecilia said before Mass. "Wow! This is something really amazing; it's a dream come true."

Her older brother said, "Words cannot describe what I am feeling at receiving my first Communion from the messenger of God, from the messenger of peace."

In his homily, Pope Benedict preached about the need for fidelity and courage in following Jesus, in discovering one's vocation, in building a family, in promoting dialogue with Jordan's Muslim majority and in carrying out acts of charity.

"Jesus knows what challenges you face, what trials you endure and the good that you do in his name," Pope Benedict told the crowd in the stadium, which holds 25,000 people.

Standing in front of a picture of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, the pope encouraged Jordan's 109,000 Catholics to trust Jesus, to trust in his love for his flock and to "persevere in your witness to the triumph of his love."

People should be grateful, he said, for the love of God that can be experienced in the family, "from the love of our fathers and mothers, our grandparents, our brothers and sisters."

"May every Christian family grow in fidelity to its lofty vocation to be a true school of prayer where children learn a sincere love of God, where they mature in self-discipline and concern for the needs of others and where, shaped by the wisdom born of faith, they contribute to the building of an ever more just and fraternal society," the pope prayed.

Noting that the local church was nearing the end of a special year of the family, which included a focus on the dignity of women, Pope Benedict urged the people to recognize "how much your society owes to all those women who in different and at times courageous ways have devoted their lives to building peace and fostering love."

"By its public respect for women and its defense of the innate dignity of every human person, the church in the Holy Land can make an important contribution to the advancement of a culture of true humanity and the building of a civilization of love," he said.

One of the mothers present at the Mass was Mariana Kardsheh, who came from Madaba with her husband and children, including 8-year-old Natalie, who was making her first Communion during the liturgy.

"It's no coincidence" that Natalie was chosen to be among the children receiving the sacrament at the papal Mass, Kardsheh said.

She and her husband -- childless at the time -- were at Pope John Paul II's Mass in Amman in 2000.

"I made my way to the popemobile. He looked at me, I saw his eyes and I made my prayer," Kardsheh said.

Two months later she was asleep and dreaming, she said; "I opened my eyes and saw an angel and I knew it was a girl," who would be born.

Kardsheh is convinced that Natalie's birth was an answer to the prayer she made in the presence of Pope John Paul and that it was fitting that the girl's first Communion Mass would be celebrated by Pope Benedict.

With Catholics attending the Mass from all over the Middle East, including the violence-torn Iraq, Pope Benedict said he knows that the region's Christians are affected by "difficulties and uncertainties."

"May you never forget the great dignity which derives from your Christian heritage or fail to sense the loving solidarity of all your brothers and sisters in the church throughout the world," he said.

The Naiomi family, Chaldean Catholics who fled to Amman from Mosul, Iraq, three years ago, was part of the crowd at the Mass.

Saif Naiomi, 24, said, "We want the pope to send a message of peace so that people can understand that the Christian religion is a peacemaker.

"I wish the pope could go to Iraq, but he can't because there is no security," he said.

Pope Benedict encouraged the people to stay in the Middle East, work for the good of their countries and remain solid in the faith of their communities founded by Jesus' disciples.

"Fidelity to your Christian roots, fidelity to the church's mission in the Holy Land, demands of each of you a particular kind of courage: the courage of conviction, born of personal faith, not mere social convention or family tradition," he said.

Being Christian means having "the courage to engage in dialogue and to work side by side with other Christians in the service of the Gospel and solidarity with the poor, the displaced and the victims of profound human tragedies," the pope said.

Christians must build bridges to members of other faiths and cultures, opening a dialogue that will "enrich the fabric of society," he said.

And in a region torn by violence and terrorism, Pope Benedict told those at the Mass that being faithful "also means bearing witness to the love which inspires us to lay down our lives in the service of others, and thus to counter ways of thinking which justify taking innocent lives."

Editors: Contributing to this story was Doreen Abi Raad in Amman.

END

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In Jordan, pope boosts Christian minority, builds bridges to Muslims

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service


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AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- Walking a pilgrim's path in Jordan, Pope Benedict XVI energized its minority Christian population and built bridges to the moderate Muslim world.


Pope Benedict XVI wears a shmagh, a Jordanian head scarf, which was given to him at the Regina Pacis center in Amman, Jordan, May 8. Images of the pope wearing the shmagh were popular in the Jordanian media. (CNS/L'Osservatore Romano, CPP)

In a wider message to the troubled region, he insisted that religious values must have a decisive role in the societies of the Middle East, especially when it comes to healing divisions and promoting peace.

It was the 82-year-old pontiff's first trip to an Arab country, the first portion of an eight-day Holy Land pilgrimage that would also take him to Israel and Palestinian territories.

He set the tone of his visit when he arrived at Amman's airport May 8, saying he had come as a Christian pilgrim and expressing his "deep respect" for the Muslim community.

As King Abdullah II stood at his side, the pope commended Jordan for curbing extremism, protecting religious liberty and promoting "a better understanding of the virtues proclaimed by Islam." He paid special tribute to interfaith dialogue initiatives launched by Jordanian leaders.

"We can say that these worthy initiatives have achieved much good in furthering an alliance of civilizations between the West and the Muslim world, confounding the predictions of those who consider violence and conflict inevitable," he said.

The pope's first stop in Amman was the Regina Pacis center, a church-run facility for the disabled, and it underscored the charitable role played by Jordan's minority Christian population in cooperation with Muslims. Arriving to loud cheers, he waded into a huge crowd of well-wishers as a band played the "gerpe" -- a Jordanian bagpipe -- and tabla, or hand drums.

The following day, the pope visited the King Hussein Mosque in Amman, pausing briefly in what the Vatican called "respectful meditation in a place where numerous people also pray and meditate before God."

In a speech afterward to Muslim academics and religious leaders, the pope said the new mosque, with its copper-topped dome and minarets, was among places of worship that "stand out like jewels across the earth's surface" and point to the Almighty.

While underlining the common belief in God shared by Muslims and Christians, the pope also warned of the "ideological manipulation of religion" that can act as a catalyst for tensions and violence in contemporary societies.

Sometimes this is done for political reasons, in an effort to silence the voice of religion in the public sphere, he said. His point was that religion risks being marginalized if it is seen as a cause of divisions instead of a builder of harmony.

Another central theme of the pope's speech was the need to "cultivate for the good, in the context of faith and truth, the vast potential of human reason."

The relationship between faith and reason was the central issue in the pope's 2006 talk at the University of Regensburg, Germany, a speech that offended many Muslims because it quoted a medieval Byzantine emperor as saying the prophet Mohammed had brought "things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith." The pope later clarified his remarks and apologized for the misunderstanding it caused.

In Amman, the pope's host at the mosque event, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, thanked the pontiff for expressing regret "for the hurt caused by this lecture." He added that the Mohammed known, loved and emulated by Muslims "is completely and entirely different" from the "distorted" images often presented in the West.

The pope traveled May 9 to Mount Nebo, the place where Moses glimpsed the Promised Land before dying. From a windswept promontory, he looked out over a biblical panorama that stretched from the Dead Sea to Jericho across the Jordan River, with the hills of Jerusalem in the far distance.

Moses reminds people today that they "are part of the ageless pilgrimage of God's people through history," he said. Christians are asked in a special way to prepare for Christ's kingdom through charity and service to the poor and by being agents of reconciliation in the world, he said.

The pope then rode his popemobile to nearby Madaba, an ancient Moabite city mentioned several times in the Bible. As he passed slowly along the dusty streets of the city's Christian quarter, he was cheered by thousands of people who held flags, signs and photos of him.

There he blessed the foundation stone of the University of Madaba, the first Catholic university in Jordan. He said it was important for the church to demonstrate that belief in God does not suppress the search for truth -- although he added that religion, like science and technology, can be "corrupted."

"Religion is disfigured when pressed into the service of ignorance or prejudice, contempt, violence and abuse. In this case we see not only a perversion of religion but also a corruption of human freedom, a narrowing and blindness of the mind," he said.

That evening, the pope received a tumultuous welcome at the Melkite Catholic Cathedral of St. George in Amman, where he encouraged the country's Catholic minority to make its voice heard in public life and to join forces with Muslims when moral concerns cross religious boundaries.

Noting Jordan's legal guarantees for Christians, the pope asked Catholics -- especially the young -- to take advantage of these opportunities.

"Do not be afraid to make your own wise, measured and respectful contribution to the public life of the kingdom. The authentic voice of faith will always bring integrity, justice, compassion and peace," he said.

The pope's Mass May 10 in an Amman soccer stadium that holds 25,000 people was the liturgical high point of his visit. In his homily, the pope preached as a simple pastor, recognizing the spiritual and material struggle of Christian families in the land where the church was born.

Christians in the Holy Land have a special vocation to engage in dialogue and build new bridges to other religions and cultures and to bear witness to the sacrificial love of Christ "and thus counter ways of thinking which justify taking innocent lives," he said.

The liturgy coincided with the close of the year of the family in the Holy Land, and the pope made a point of thanking the many women in the region who have found "courageous ways" to protect families and build peace.

Later in the day the pope made his way to the Jordan River, where archeologists believe they have identified the site of Jesus' baptism by St. John the Baptist. He blessed the foundation stones of two Catholic churches -- one Latin rite, the other Melkite rite -- to be built at the location and said the new construction was a hopeful sign for a Christian community that goes back to the church's beginnings.

The papal events were broadcast on Jordanian TV, and the country's media gave the visit wide coverage. A favorite image of the visit landed on the front pages of several newspapers: the smiling pope wearing around his shoulders a red-checkered "shmagh," the official Jordanian head scarf.

END



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Pope condemns anti-Semitism, prays for interreligious harmony

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes Pope Benedict XVI to Israel May 11 at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International airport. Looking on is Israel's President Shimon Peres. (CNS/Reuters)




JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Reaching Israel, the country at the heart of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Pope Benedict XVI condemned anti-Semitism and prayed for a new era in which all believers in the one God would live in peace and treat each other with respect and justice.

In his arrival speech May 11 at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, the pope prayed that Isaiah's prophecy would be fulfilled and all the peoples of the world would walk along God's paths -- "paths of peace and justice, paths that lead to reconciliation and harmony."

The pope was welcomed at the airport with warm handshakes from Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the greetings of other government officials and representatives from Israel's Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities.

From the moment he arrived, the German-born pope honored the memory of the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II and condemned anti-Semitism, which "continues to rear its ugly head in many parts of the world."

"This is totally unacceptable," he said.

Pope Benedict told the leaders, "I come, like so many others before me, to pray at the holy places, to pray especially for peace -- peace here in the Holy Land, and peace throughout the world."

The pope said that although Jerusalem means "city of peace," unfortunately, "for decades peace has tragically eluded the inhabitants of this holy land."

"The eyes of the world are upon the peoples of this region as they struggle to achieve a just and lasting solution to the conflicts that have caused so much suffering," Pope Benedict said.

As he had said in Jordan on the first leg of his trip, Pope Benedict told Israelis that peace and justice in the region require respect for the religious identity of each person, guaranteed access to their holy sites and an acknowledgment of the right of both Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace "in a homeland of their own within secure and internationally recognized borders."

Speaking at the airport, Peres told the pope he saw the papal trip as "an important spiritual mission of the highest order: a mission of peace; a mission of planting seeds of tolerance and uprooting the weeds of fanaticism."

The president said, "We have made peace with Egypt and Jordan, and we are in negotiations to make peace with the Palestinians; we may also arrive at a comprehensive regional peace in the near future."

Seeing the pope off at the airport in Amman that morning, Jordan's King Abdullah II said, "It is vital to make justice real for those who suffer today, whether from occupation, deprivation or disrespect."

"For too long the Middle East has been entangled in conflict," the king told the pope. "The Palestinian people, in particular, have suffered under occupation and its evil. It is time this situation ended through a settlement that will guarantee the Palestinians their rights to freedom and statehood and give Israelis the acceptance and security they need."

The king said, "The two-state solution" -- fully independent and recognized nations for Israelis and for Palestinians -- "enjoys the support of the international community precisely because it offers the only promise of lasting peace."

As he began his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Pope Benedict had a special word of encouragement for the area's Christian communities

"By your faithful witness to him who preached forgiveness and reconciliation, by your commitment to uphold the sacredness of every human life, you can make a particular contribution to ending the hostilities that for so long have afflicted this land," the pope said.

In a region marked by the continuing emigration of Christians, the pope told Catholics of the Holy Land, "I pray that your continuing presence in Israel and the Palestinian territories will bear much fruit in promoting peace and mutual respect among all the peoples who live in the land of the Bible."

END
ISRAEL-ARRIVE May-11-2009 (660 words) With photos. xxxi

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