In a truly historic visit, Pope John Paul II spent five days in Israel, mainly in Jerusalem, but also in Nazareth and on Mount Beatitude where he held a mass for over 100,000 pilgrims from all over the world. The Pope arrived from Amman on board a Jordanian airliner and left Israel for Rome on board an El Al plane. He met with Israel's President, Prime Minister and Chief Rabbis, visited the Western Wall, and laid a wreath at Yad Vashem. He also visited Bethlehem and met with PA Chairman Arafat. Text of speeches and statements made by the Pope in Israel, as well as those made by Israeli leaders, follow:
Address by H.E. Mr. Ezer Weizman, President of the State of Israel
at the Welcome Ceremony, Ben-Gurion Airport,
21 March 2000.
Your Holiness, Pope John Paul II,
In the name of the people in Israel, I welcome you with the traditional greeting: "Baruch haba."
Two hundred generations have passed since the beginning of our people's history, yet they seem to us like a short time. Only 200 generations since the emergence on the stage of history of a man called Abraham, who left his home and native land and went to a place which is today my country. Only 150 generations have passed from the pillar of fire that signaled the redemption of the Exodus from Egypt until the pillars of smoke that signaled the destruction in the Holocaust.
And we, who were born as children of our forefather Abraham, were present in all of these. Wanderers were we, following in the footsteps of our forefathers, but throughout the long years of our exile, our spirit was never broken and our yearning for Zion never wavered.
Two thousand years ago, the people of Israel was exiled from its country and its homeland, and dispersed among the nations, over lands and continents. During the years of exile, we suffered religious persecution and anti-Semitism, and a third of our people were exterminated, incinerated in the terrible Holocaust. Today we are no longer Jews in exile wandering the globe from land to land, from diaspora to diaspora. We, my brothers and contemporaries, were born into the era when the Jews returned to their land and rebuilt it.
We appreciate Your Holiness' contribution to condemning anti-Semitism by labeling it as a crime against God and humanity, and by the request for forgiveness for deeds carried out in the past by representatives of the Church against the Jewish people. As you have noted, we must act together to fight the plague of racism and anti-Semitism all over the world.
We are mindful of the new emphasis in Catholic religious teaching that calls for acknowledging the Jewish roots of Christianity and recognizing the Jewish people as it defines itself.
Therefore, it is important for the men and women in the Church to also become familiar with the modern Israeli reality, the State of Israel, as the spiritual center of the Jewish people, where Jews, Muslims, Christians, together with people of other faiths live together in peace and harmony.
From its inception, the State of Israel has guaranteed freedom of religion and freedom of access to holy sites to all peoples, and you will certainly see the evidence of this, Your Holiness, throughout your visit in Israel.
The State of Israel is presently in the midst of a peace process that is exciting and encouraging. Throughout the more than one hundred years of Zionist achievement, we have hoped for this peace and we have made great efforts to achieve it.
From the very outset, our hand has been outstretched in peace to our Arab neighbors. We eagerly await this peace, dream of it, pray for it. It appears in every chapter of Jewish thought, as in the words of King David, lyric poet of Israel: "Seek peace and pursue it."
Your Holiness,
You are arriving this evening in Jerusalem, the city of peace, the capital of the State of Israel, the heart of the Jewish world, which is also a holy site for Christianity and Islam. In the words of the prophet Isaiah: "And many people shall go and say, 'Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths.' For out of Zion will go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
Jerusalem has been the heart of the Jewish people throughout all the generations; it is what gives us our spiritual power. Jerusalem is the city of eternity, a city that has been reunified. It is the city of the judges of Israel, the kings of Israel, and the prophets of Israel, the capital and source of the pride of the State of Israel.
The government of Israel and the people of Israel have done a great deal to guarantee your pilgrimage to the sites holy to you, in the best tradition of hospitality of our forefather Abraham, and in the finest of that same tradition of commitment to freedom of religion and freedom of access to the holy sites to peoples of all religions, be it those who live among us or those who come to us from other places for this purpose.
We wish you many more years of good health.
We welcome you here, Your Holiness, John Paul II.
Address by His Holiness Pope John Paul II
Dear President Weizman, Madam Weizman, Dear Prime Minister Barak, Madam Barak, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Yesterday, from the heights of Mount Nebo, I looked across the Jordan Valley to this blessed land. Today, it is with profound emotion that I set foot in the land where God chose to "pitch his tent", and made it possible for man to encounter him more directly.
In this year of the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, it has been my strong personal desire to come here and to pray in the most important places which, from ancient times, have seen God's interventions, the wonders he has done. "You are the God who works wonders. You showed your power among these peoples."
Mr. President, I thank you for your warm welcome, and in your person I greet all the people of the State of Israel.
My visit is both a personal pilgrimage and the spiritual journey of the Bishop of Rome to the origins of our faith in "the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob." It is part of a larger pilgrimage of prayer and thanksgiving which led me first to Sinai, the Mountain of the Covenant, the place of the decisive revelation, which shaped the subsequent history of salvation. Now I shall have the privilege of visiting some of the places more closely connected with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Along every step of the way I am moved by a vivid sense of God who has gone before us and leads us on, who wants us to honor him in spirit and in truth, to acknowledge the differences between us, but also to recognize in every human being the image and likeness of the one creator of the heaven and earth.
Mr. President, you are known as a man of peace and a peacemaker. We all know how urgent is the need for peace and justice, not for Israel alone but for the entire region. Many things have changed in relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel since my predecessor Pope Paul VI came here in 1964. The establishment of diplomatic relations between us in 1994 set a seal on efforts to open an era of dialogue on questions of common interest concerning religious freedom, relations between Church and State and, more generally, relations between Christians and Jews. On another level, world opinion follows with close attention the peace process, which finds all the peoples of the region involved in the difficult search for a lasting peace with justice for all. With newfound openness towards one another, Christians and Jews together must make courageous efforts to remove all forms of prejudice. We must strive always and everywhere to present the true face of the Jews and of Judaism, as likewise of Christians and of Christianity, and this at every level of attitude, teaching and communication.
My journey, therefore, is a pilgrimage, in a spirit of humble gratitude and hope, to the origins of our religious history. It is a tribute to the three religious traditions which co-exist in this land. For a long time I have looked forward to meeting the faithful of the Catholic communities in their rich variety, and the members of the various Christian churches and communities present in the Holy Land. I pray that my visit will serve to encourage an increase of interreligious dialogue that will lead Jews, Christians and Muslims to seek in their respective beliefs, and in the universal brotherhood that unites all the members of the human family, the motivation and the perseverance to work for the peace and justice which the peoples of the Holy Land do not yet have, and for which they yearn so deeply. The Psalmist reminds us that peace is God's gift: "I will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace, peace for his people and his friends and those who turn to him in their hearts."
May peace be God's gift to the land he chose as his own!
Shalom.
Greetings by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau and
Sephardi Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi Doron at Hechal Shlomo,
23 March 2000
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they will prosper who love you." (Psalms 122:6)
The people of Israel who dwell in Zion and the Chief Rabbis of Israel welcome Pope John Paul II with the traditional greeting: Blessed be your coming to Israel.
From the holy city of Jerusalem, about which the prophet Zechariah said: "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day and shall be My people, and I will dwell in the midst of you" (Zechariah 2:14-15), we welcome one who saw fit to express remorse in the name of the Catholic Church for the terrible deeds committed against the Jewish people during the course of the past 2,000 years and even appointed a commission for requesting forgiveness from the Jewish nation with regard to the Holocaust.
We remember and mention to his credit the decisive assistance he gave in the matter of moving the Carmelite Convent out of the area of the Auschwitz concentration camp, a place where millions of our brothers and sisters were murdered for the Sanctification of the Name, sacrificed for the sole reason that they were "called by the Name of the Lord." (Deuteronomy 25:10)
We appreciate as well his recognition of our right to return to, and live in, the Holy Land in peace and brotherhood within safe borders recognized by the nations of the world and especially by our neighbors. All these things were given expression in the prayer he offered at Auschwitz(June 11, 1999) for the success of the Israeli people's efforts for peace.
We, the Chief Rabbis of Israel, representing the Jewish People dwelling in the Holy Land, express our hope and faith that the prophesies will be fulfilled: of Malachi - "Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord", (Malachi 3:22), and of Zechariah - "Thus says the Lord: I return unto Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem' and Jerusalem shall be called The City of truth and the Mountain of the Lord of Hosts, the Holy Mountain There shall yet sit old men and women in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the broad places of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof." (Zechariah 8:3-5)
From Jerusalem, capital of the State of Israel, and from Zion, the holy city, we pray that we may be granted a good and long life, a life of peace and security, health and peace of mind, a life of human brotherhood. May it be His will that the words of the prophet be fulfilled: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Isaiah 2:4)
May He who makes peace in His heavens bring peace to us and to all of Israel.
Greetings by His Holiness Pope John Paul II
Very Reverend Chief Rabbis,
It is with deep respect that I visit you here today and thank you for receiving me at Hechal Shlomo. Truly this is a significant meeting which - I hope and pray - will lead to increasing contacts between Christians and Jews, aimed at achieving an ever deeper understanding of the historical and theological relationship between our respective religious heritages.
Personally, I have always wanted to be counted among those who work, on both sides, to overcome old prejudices and to secure ever wider and fuller recognition of the spiritual patrimony shared by Jews and Christians. I repeat what I said on the occasion of my visit to the Jewish community in Rome, that we Christians recognize that the Jewish religious heritage is intrinsic to our own faith: "You are our elder brothers" (cf. Address at the Synagogue of Rome, 13 April 1986, 4). We hope that the Jewish people will acknowledge that the Church utterly condemns anti-Semitism and every form of racism as being altogether opposed to the principles of Christianity. We must work together to build a future in which there will be no more anti-Judaism among Christians, or anti-Christian sentiment among Jews.
There is much that we have in common. There is so much that we can do together for peace, for justice, for a more human and fraternal world. May the Lord of the heaven and earth lead us to a new and fruitful era of mutual respect and cooperation, for the benefit of all!
Thank you.
Remarks by H.E. Mr. Ezer Weizman, President of the State of Israel,
at the President's Residence,
23 March 2000
I am honored and happy to welcome Your Holiness to the Israeli President's Residence in Jerusalem.
In the two days that Your Holiness has been with us, you have no doubt been impressed by the beauty of the city.
In front of you are seated Israeli ministers, judges of the Supreme Court, members of the Knesset, ambassadors of all countries which have diplomatic relations with Israel, heads of religious groups, Israeli dignitaries, and public representatives. With us also are President Katzir, Mrs. Ora Herzog, the wife of the sixth president, and Mrs. Leah Rabin, the wife of Yitzhak Rabin, may his soul rest in peace.
There is a question whether history makes a leader, or a leader creates history. You, Your Holiness, without doubt, clearly leave your mark and influence on history. During the past years, we have been witnessing a process of globalization. People from different countries, from different cultures and with different religions, are drawn to one another. This is due to the modern technology. But you, Your Holiness, through your character, your conduct, and your personal influence, unite the hearts of humanity.
We are in Jerusalem, the holy city, the eternal capital of Israel, a very important religious center for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - and the city of peace. Your visit to Jerusalem can contribute to peace, to friendship between Jews, Muslims, Christians, and between Israel and the Arab world.
For thirty years, I personally fought in Israeli wars, and over the past twenty years, I am doing everything in my ability for the battle of peace. Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt and Jordan. Our borders with them are quiet. We have also reached agreement with the Palestinians and I hope that we will soon attain permanent settlement with them. The large wound is Lebanon, and it is clear that the key to Lebanon is Damascus. I hope that the forthcoming summit meeting between President Clinton and President Assad will be successful, and we will be able to achieve peace both with Syria and with Lebanon. A comprehensive peace between Israel and her neighbors is the dream of every Israeli, and all the people of the Middle East.
Your Holiness, you will visit Yad Vashem today, and there you will unite with the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. Your Holiness has acted strongly against racism, against anti-Semitism, and I believe that your visit to Yad Vashem will contribute to the continuation of this important struggle. My wife
and I wish Your Holiness good health and continued success in this most special visit to Israel.
Remarks by His Holiness Pope John Paul II
Mr. President, Government Ministers, Members of the Knesset, Your Excellencies,
I am most grateful, Mr. President, for the welcome you have given me to Israel. To this meeting we both bring long histories. You represent Jewish memory, reaching beyond the recent history of this land to your peoples unique journey through the centuries and millennia. I come as one whose Christian memory reaches back throughout the 2000 years since the birth of Jesus in this very Land.
History, as the ancients held, is the Magistra vitae, a teacher of how to live. This is why we must be determined to heal the wounds of the past, so that they may never be opened again. We must work for a new era of reconciliation and peace between Jews and Christians. My visit is a pledge that the Catholic Church will do everything possible to ensure that this is not just a dream but a reality.
We know that real peace in the Middle East will come only as a result of mutual understanding and respect between all the peoples of the region: Jews, Christians and Muslims. In this perspective, my pilgrimage is a journey of hope, the hope that the twenty-first century will lead to a new solidarity among the peoples of the world, in the conviction that development, justice and peace will not be attained unless they are attained for all.
Building a brighter future for the human family is a task which concerns us all. That is why I am pleased to greet you, Government Ministers, members of the Knesset and Diplomatic Representatives of many countries who must make and implement decisions which affect the lives of people. It is my fervent hope that a genuine desire for peace
will inspire your every decision. With that as my prayer, I invoke divine blessings upon you, Mr. President, upon your country, and upon all of you who have honored me with your presence.
Thank you.
Address by Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem
(National Authority for the Remembrance of the Martyrs and Heroes of the Holocaust),
23 March, 2000
Your Holiness, Pope John Paul II,
Allow me to open with a few words in our language, the language of Abraham, Moses and the Covenant, which has once again become the native language of the land of Israel.
[In Hebrew: A 2,000-year-old historical cycle is returning here to its beginning, bearing the weight of remembrance - its richness and pain, its light and shadows, its song and laments. The wounds of time will not be healed in a day, but the path which brought you here leads to a new horizon. This hour will go down in history as a propitious hour, a moment of truth, the victory of justice and hope.]
Your Holiness,
In the name of the Jewish people, in the name of the State of Israel and all of its citizens - Christians, Muslims, Druze and Jews - I welcome you, in friendship, in brotherhood, and in peace, here in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, the eternal city of faith.
Your Holiness,
We meet today in this sanctuary of memory, for the Jewish people and for all humanity. "Yad Vashem" - literally "a place and a name" - for the six million of our brothers and sisters, for one and a half million children, victims of the barbarian evil of Nazism.
When the darkness of Nazism descended, and my people were led from all over Christian Europe to the crematoria and the gas chambers, it seemed that no longer could one place any hope in God or man. That in the words of the prophet Joel, "The sun and the moon darkened and the stars withdrew their luster." And the silence was not only from the heavens. During that time, here in the land of Israel, the poet Natan Alterman wrote these searing, tormented verses:
"As our children cried underneath the gallows,
the wrath of the world we did not hear"
Your Holiness,
From the depths of that "long night of the Shoah", as you have called it, we saw flickers of light, shining like beacons against the utter darkness around them. These were the righteous gentiles, mostly children of your faith, who secretly risked their lives to save the lives to others. Their names are inscribed on the walls around us here at Yad Vashem; they are forever inscribed on the tablets of our hearts.
You, Your Holiness, were a young witness to the tragedy. And as you wrote to your Jewish childhood friend, you felt, in some sense, as if you yourself experienced the fate of Polish Jewry. When my grandparents, Elka and Shmuel Godin, mounted the death trains at Umschlagplatz near their home in Warsaw, headed towards their fate at Treblinka - the fate of three millions Jews from your homeland - you were there and you remembered.
You have done more than anyone else to bring about the historic change in the attitude of the Church towards the Jewish people, initiated by the good Pope John XXIII, and to dress the gaping wounds that festered over many bitter centuries.
And I think I can say, Your Holiness, that your coming here today, to the Tent of Remembrance at Yad Vashem, is a climax of this historic journey of healing. Here, right now, time itself has come to a standstill. This very moment holds within it 2000 years of history. And their weight is almost too much to bear.
Shortly before setting out on your pilgrimage here, you raised the flag of fraternity to full mast, setting into Church liturgy a request for forgiveness, for wrongs committed by members of your faith against others, especially against the Jewish people.
We appreciate this noble act most profoundly.
Naturally, it is impossible to overcome all the pains of the past overnight. Your Holiness has frequently commented on problems regarding past relations between Christianity and the Jews. It is our wish to continue productive dialogue on this issue, to work together to eliminate the scourge of racism and anti-Semitism.
Your Holiness,
Mine is a nation that remembers. However onerous the burden of memory, we may not avoid it, because without memory there can be neither culture nor conscience.
The establishment of the State of Israel against all odds, and the ingathering of the exiles not only has restored to the Jewish people its honor and mastery over its fate; it is the definitive, permanent answer to Auschwitz. We have returned home, and since then no Jew will ever remain helpless or be stripped of the last shred of human dignity. Here, at the cradle of our civilization, we have rebuilt our home, so that it may thrive in peace and security. Defending our state has claimed a heavy toll.
We are now resolved to find paths to historical reconciliation. We are in the midst of an enormous effort to secure comprehensive peace with our Palestinian neighbors, with Syria and Lebanon, and with the entire Arab world.
Your Holiness,
We have noted with appreciation your words about the unique bond of the Jewish people to Jerusalem, that, and I quote you, "Jews love Jerusalem with a passion... from the days of David who chose it as a capital, and from the days of Solomon who built the temple there; therefore they turn to it in their prayers every day, and point to it as a symbol of their nation."
I would like to reiterate our absolute commitment to protect all rights and properties of the Catholic Church, as well as those of the other Christian and Muslim institutions; to continue to ensure full freedom of worship to members of all faiths equally; and to keep united Jerusalem open and free, as never before, to all who love her. I know that you pray, as we do, for the unity and peace of Jerusalem:
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem... Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces, for my brethren and companions' sake I will now say, peace be within thee."
Your Holiness,
You have come on a mission of brotherhood, of remembrance and of peace.
And we say to you:
Blessed are you in Israel.
Address by His Holiness Pope John Paul II
The words of the ancient Psalm rise from our hearts:
"I have become like a broken vessel. I hear the whispering of many - terror on every side! - as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God'." (Psalms 31:13-15).
In this place of memories, the mind and heart and soul feel an extreme need for silence. Silence in which to remember. Silence in which to try to make some sense of the memories which come flooding back. Silence because there are no words strong enough to deplore the terrible tragedy of the Shoah. My own personal memories are of all that happened when the Nazis occupied Poland during the War. I remember my Jewish friends and neighbors, some of whom perished, while others survived.
I have come to Yad Vashem to pay homage to the millions of Jewish people who, stripped of everything, especially of their human dignity, were murdered in the Holocaust. More than half a century has passed, but the memories remain.
Here, as at Auschwitz and many other places in Europe, we are overcome by the echo of the heart-rending laments of so many. Men, women and children cry out to us from the depth of the horror that they knew. How can we fail to heed their cry? No one can forget or ignore what happened. No one can diminish its scale.
We wish to remember. But we wish to remember for a purpose, namely to ensure that never again will evil prevail, as it did for the millions of innocent victims of Nazism.
How could man have such utter contempt for man? Because he had reached the point of contempt for God. Only a Godless ideology could plan and carry out the extermination of a whole people.
The honor given to the "just gentiles" by the State of Israel at Yad Vashem for having acted heroically to save Jews, sometimes to the point of giving their own lives, is a recognition that not even in the darkest hour is every light extinguished. That is why the Psalms, and the entire Bible, though well aware of the human capacity for evil, also proclaim that evil will not have the last word. Out of the depths of pain and sorrow, the believer's heart cries out: "I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God'." (Psalms 31:14)
Jews and Christians share an immense spiritual patrimony, flowing from God's self-revelation. Our religious teachings and our spiritual experience demand that we overcome evil with good. We remember, but not with any desire for vengeance or as an incentive to hatred. For us, to remember is to pray for peace and justice, and to commit ourselves to their cause. Only a world at peace, with justice for all, can avoid repeating the mistakes and terrible crimes of the past.
As Bishop of Rome and Successor of the Apostle Peter, I assure the Jewish people that the Catholic Church, motivated by the Gospel law of truth and love and by no political considerations, is deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians at any time and in any place. The Church rejects racism in any form as a denial of the image of the Creator inherent in every human being (cf. Genesis 1:26).
In this place of solemn remembrance, I fervently pray that our sorrow for the tragedy which the Jewish people suffered in the twentieth century will lead to a new relationship between Christians and Jews. Let us build a new future in which there will be no more anti-Jewish feeling among Christians or anti-Christian feeling among Jews, but rather the mutual respect required of those who adore the one Creator and Lord, and look to Abraham as our common father in faith (cf. We Remember, V).
The world must heed the warning that comes to us from the victims of the Holocaust and from the testimony of the survivors. Here at Yad Vashem the memory lives on, and burns itself onto our souls. It makes us cry out:
"I hear the whispering of many - terror on every side! - But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God'." (Palms 31:13-15)
Speech by Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau at the
Interreligious Meeting at the Pontifical Institute, Notre Dame, Jerusalem
23 March 2000
Our very distinguished and honored guest, the Pope John Paul II, "Baruch Haba - Welcome", my colleague Sheikh Tatzir Tamimi, dear guest, friends, ladies and gentlemen,
I will start with a few words of our Hebrew language, the language of the Bible, our holy book. The same words repeated by the prophets Isaiah and Micah say the following - to summarize the prophecy of Micah, I will only mention a few sentences of it:
"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall stream towards it. And many nations shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountains of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in this paths': for Torah shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. For let all people walk everyone in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever." (Micah 4)
Dear friends,
Everyone has his way of serving the Almighty, but one way is common and must be common for all mankind, all the believers of all the religions, especially the brother of the monotheistic faith. Peace, friendship, understanding, listening to one another, even though we do not agree with everything. In spite of all obstacles and differences - to overcome obstacles and differences - we have to speak, we have to listen. We are ready to go from place to place, from one continent to the other, from one century to another, offering a hand, speaking about peace.
In the name of this city, the holy city of Jerusalem, the eternal capital city of the people of Israel. Its very name has the meaning of peace. There was a debate because two personalities called this city different names. Abraham called it "Yireh", after binding his son Isaac on the Mount of Moriah (Genesis 22). But Shem, son of Noah, great-grandfather of Abraham called this city "Shalaim" (Genesis 14). According to our sages, the Almighty came and said: "Shem, the son of Noah, called it "Shalaim", Abraham, my beloved son, called it "Yireh." I will make a combination of both names and I will put peace amongst these two personalities: "Yireh-Shalaim" = "YeruShalaim" = "Yerushalayim." One long name, yet a name of peace, of a combination of both "Yireh" and "Shalaim."
We know the secret that peace can never be achieved by leaders only, even spiritual leaders, even leaders of this level, of this highest standard. Peace can be accomplished only if it will be followed by the leaders of mankind, populations, nations, the people, families. Step by step, we must adopt peace, not only in public speeches, but also integrate peace in the daily framework. This is a good start, this is a bridge. Here you can learn what is the target, what is the destination, what we are asking for.
Take the Hebrew language. We don't know what it means when two people meet and say "Hi", or when two people separate and say "Bye." There is no "Hi" and no "Bye"; there is "Shalom." "Shalom" when we meet, and "Shalom" when we depart. "Shalom Aleichem" (peace be to you), "Aleichem Shalom" (To you be peace), "Bruchim Habaim" (blessed are those who come) - always with the word of "Shalom." This is the climax of our prayers. Three times a day we ask the Almighty to "put peace, goodness, and blessings upon us and all of the people of Israel." This is our prayer, our dream, and our wish. Who else like us, a nation who suffered so much, who sacrificed so much, understands the need, the urgent need for peace, understanding and friendship?
If you will permit me; you remember the prophecy of Isaiah, speaking about the time in the future, when the branch of the tree of Yishai, of King David, the Messiah will arrive:
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the nursing child shall play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the viper's nest. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:6)
Your visit here, your coming here, the recognition of the Jewish independent State of Israel, the recognition of Jerusalem as its united eternal capital city, in Yad Vashem when you came and you shared with us your memories from the dark days of the Holocaust, you are the real bridge and hope for understanding for friendship and hopefully for brotherhood.
All the best to you, and God shall bless you all!
Speech by His Holiness Pope John Paul II
Distinguished Jewish, Christian and Muslim representatives,
In this year of the 2000th Anniversary of the Birth of Jesus Christ, I am truly happy to be able to fulfill my long-cherished wish to make a journey through the geography of salvation history. I am deeply moved as I follow in the footsteps of the countless pilgrims who before me have prayed in the Holy Places connected with God's interventions. I am fully conscious that this land is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Therefore, my visit would have been incomplete without this meeting with you, distinguished religious leaders. Thank you for the support which your presence here this evening gives to the hope and conviction of so many people that we are indeed entering a new era of interreligious dialogue. We are conscious that closer ties among all believers are a necessary and urgent condition for securing a more just and peaceful world.
For all of us, Jerusalem, as its name indicates, is the "City of Peace." Perhaps no other place in the world communicates the sense of transcendence and divine election that we perceive in her stones and monuments, and in the witness of the three religions living side by side within her walls. Not everything has been or will be easy in this co-existence. But we must find in our respective religious traditions the wisdom and the superior motivation to ensure the triumph of mutual understanding and cordial respect.
We all agree that religion must be genuinely centered on God, and that our first religious duty is adorations, praise and thanksgiving. The opening sura of the Koran makes this clear: "Praise be to God, the Lord of the Universe" (Koran 1:1). In the inspired songs of the Bible, we hear this universal call: "Let everything that breathes give praise to the Lord! Alleluia!" (Psalms 150:6). And in the Gospel, we read that when Jesus was born the angels sang: "Glory to God in the highest heaven" (Luke 2:14). In our times, when many are tempted to run their affairs without any reference to God, the call to acknowledge the Creator of the universe and the Lord of history is essential in ensuring the well-being of individuals and the proper development of society.
If it is authentic, devotion to God necessarily involves attention to our fellow human beings. As members of the one human family and as God's beloved children, we have duties towards one another which, as believers, we cannot ignore. One of the first disciples of Jesus wrote: "If anyone says, 'I love God', and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20). Love of our brothers and sisters involves an attitude of respect and compassion, gestures ofsolidarity, cooperation in service to the common good. Thus, concern for justice and peace does not lie outside the field of religion, but is actually one of its essential elements.
In the Christian view, it is not for religious leaders to propose technical formulas for the solution of social, economic and political problems, Theirs is, above all, the task of teaching the truths of faith and right conduct, the task of helping people - including those with responsibility in public life - to be aware of their duties and to fulfill them. As religious leaders, we help people to live integrated lives, to harmonize the vertical dimension of their relationship with God with the horizontal dimension of service to their neighbor.
Each of our religions knows, in some form or another, the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Precious as this rule is as a guide, true love of neighbor goes much further. It is based on the conviction that when we love our neighbor, we are showing our love for God, and when we hurt our neighbor, we offend God. This means that religion is the enemy of exclusion and discrimination, of hatred and rivalry, of violence and conflict. Religion is not, and must not become, an excuse for violence, particularly when religious identity coincides with cultural and ethnic identity. Religion and peace go together! Religious belief and practice cannot be separated from the defense of the image of God in every human being.
Drawing upon the riches of our respective religious traditions, we must spread awareness that today's problems will not be solved if we remain ignorant of one another and isolated from one another. We are all aware of past misunderstandings and conflicts, and these still weigh heavily upon relationships between Jews, Christians and Muslims. We must do all we can to turn awareness of past offences and sins into a firm resolve to build a new future in which there will be nothing but respectful and fruitful cooperation between us.
The Catholic Church wishes to pursue a sincere and fruitful interreligious dialogue with the members of the Jewish faith and the followers of Islam. Such a dialogue is not an attempt to impose our views upon others. What it demands of all of us is that, holding to what we believe, we listen respectfully to one another, seek to discern all that is good and holy in each other's teachings, and cooperate in supporting everything that favors mutual understanding and peace.
The Jewish, Christian and Muslim children and young people present here are a sign of hope and an incentive for us. Each new generation is a divine gift to the world. If we pass on to them all that is noble and good in our traditions, they will make it blossom in more intense brotherhood and cooperation.
If the various religious communities in the Holy City and in the Holy Land succeed in living and working together in friendship and harmony, this will be of enormous benefit not only to themselves, but to the whole cause of peace in this region. Jerusalem will truly be a City of Peace for all peoples. Then we will all repeat the words of the Prophet: "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." (Isaiah 2:3)
To recommit ourselves to such a task, and to do so in the Holy City of Jerusalem, is to ask God to look kindly on our efforts and bring them to a happy outcome. May the Almighty abundantly bless our common endeavors!
Speech by Rabbi Michael Melchior, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office responsible for Diaspora Affairs, at the Western Wall,
26 March 2000
Your Honor, the Pope:
Thousands of years of history are looking down on us from atop this sacred mount and from amidst the stones of this remnant of our holy Temple. And they see you here.
Thrice daily, for thousands of years, Jews have prayed toward this place from North, South, East and West - indeed from every corner of the globe. We have never stopped praying. We have never stopped yearning: "May our eyes behold God's merciful return to Zion."
In the torturous dungeons of the Inquisition, while awaiting the hangman's noose, when cramped in cattle cars bound for Auschwitz, Treblinka or Maidanek, and in the heat of battle defending our State, Jews have longed for and prayed toward this holy place.
According to our tradition, "God's presence has never budged from this Western Wall." This place demonstrates in the most concrete way the never-ending bond between the Creator of the World and the Jewish people. So it was then, so it is today when we - through His Grace - have returned to our eternal homeland and capital.
We welcome your coming here as the realization of a commitment of the Catholic Church to end the era of hatred, humiliation, and persecution of the Jewish people.
In the name of the Government of Israel and the Jewish People, we stand here today to call out in the loudest and clearest of voices: "No longer!"
No longer may we pervert the sublime values of religion to justify war. No longer may we call God's name as we strike down those created in His image.
We say: "No longer!" For today begins a new era, in which we all lift our eyes to the heavens and commit ourselves to search every ancient path and to pave bold, new highways that will bring peace to all religions and to all believers - Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. A new era, in which faith in God will be the symbol of peace and brotherhood among nations, justice, and concern for the suffering of every one of His creatures.
No longer. For today we commit ourselves to end the manipulation of the sanctity of Jerusalem for political gain. Jerusalem must reject hatred, struggle, and bloodshed, and be again the "City of Peace" and a source of holiness.
In response to your call to advance the cause of a religious peace, I am honored to announce my intention to begin work immediately towards the establishment of an interreligious forum to which will be invited representatives of the three great monotheistic faiths in order to promote peace among religions in this sacred land, in this region, and all over the world.
Let us do our utmost to realize the Prophet Isaiah's song of peace:
"And I shall bring them to my holy mountain, and cause them to rejoice in my house of prayer. Their offerings and sacrifices will be welcome on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples." (Isaiah 56:7)
The sanctity of Jerusalem is uplifting. It compels us to rise above what divides us, and provides us with the inspiration and vision to join in finding a way that will bring us all "life, and not death; blessing, and not affliction."
We welcome your coming here in peace, and we wish you blessing and peace as you depart.
May He who makes peace in the heavens, make peace on us and for all Israel. And let us say, 'Amen.'