Some months have passed since the visit of Pope John Paul II to the
Holy Land [March 2000]. The din of the mass media that surrounded
the event, sometimes to the point of being irritating, has
fortunately ceased. As the racket of fax machines and the
cacophonic tumult of radio and television stations worldwide, with
their enthusiastic or critical comments, have quieted down, the
moment now seems more favorable to step back and take stock of this
unprecedented event, to measure what remains of it in the memory of
the heart. I would say more precisely: in the heart of men of
goodwill, those who are truly longing for peace - those whom the
Gospel of Bethlehem calls "objects of divine benevolence."
An Examination of Conscience
Most importantly, we must recall the significance that John Paul II
himself intended to give to this trip. In spite of and beyond the
particularly serious political conjuncture, for him, just as much a
man of faith and pastor of the Catholic Church, it was more than
anything else a pilgrimage to the source of faith. For three years,
he had been announcing this millennium and preparing for it, by
writing speeches with a sense of urgency, as inspired by the
biblical tradition of the Jubilee. The year 2000 is a unique
occasion to reflect on yesterday, to draw a "balance sheet," as it
were, of the time passed in thanksgiving and repentance before God
who conducts events as the Master of history.
The beginning of this third millennium was for the pope a
privileged opportunity to invite the whole Christian world and,
beyond it, the whole of humanity, to an examination of conscience
on the failures and mistakes of the past, and from this point to
look to the future for an immense process of renewal and
conversion. To the pope's mind, the most decisive and urgent
conversion, that of which the world is most in need, is unity and
peace. We can say that this is his concern to the point of
obsession. It is a matter of unity between Christians, between
churches, between religious traditions according to their
respective faiths - basically, between people and nations. This
unity cannot find its source except in mutual respect and love. The
pope wanted this millennium pilgrimage to bear witness to this, and
that the land in which God intervened in the history of man should
be the privileged place for it.
The Parisian Catholic newspaper, The Cross, gave this title for its
summary of the pope's visit: "Following the Steps of the Prophet of
Peace." John Paul II came not as a diplomat with political
propositions in order to promote negotiations, but with a deep
desire to create a climate that would make this possible. Indeed,
he found himself often caught in the midst of Israeli and
Palestinian crossfire, each vying for Jerusalem as their eternal
capital city. To succeed in going through this path fraught with
pitfalls, without being accused of partiality by either party, was
indeed a great feat. Faced by the conflicts of the two peoples
living in this land, the pope acted as a witness, but he did not
hide his anguish.
Goodwill and Solidarity
We must acknowledge the deep meaning of his attitude concerning the
equally tragic destiny of both sides. On the one hand, the simple
fact of his visit to Israel - this time an official one, compared
to the 1964 visit of Paul VI - the pope sealed the Catholic
Church's acknowledgment of a Jewish state. Moreover, the most
striking image that the whole world will retain from this trip in
the Holy Land is that of the pope's visit to Yad Vashem, in the
Tent of Remembrance, dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. In
his speech, which had a profound impact on the Israelis, and to
which Prime Minister Ehud Barak gave a very noble response, John
Paul II called for a "new relationship between Christians and
Jews." Another significant moment in this reconciliation with the
Jewish world is the visit to the Western Wall. Praying alone before
this monument, the most sacred to Judaism, the pope inserted
between the stones of the Wall, in accordance with Jewish custom,
the text of the Jubilee-Repentance of the Catholic Church regarding
the Jews, proclaimed in Rome on March 12.
On the other hand, by the gesture of kissing the soil of Palestine
on Wednesday morning in Bethlehem, the pope implicitly expressed
his encouragement for a future Palestinian state. Above all, by
going that same afternoon to the Deheisheh refugee camp, he
reminded Israel and the world that the "torment of the Palestinian
people has lasted too long."
Also, prior to his moment of silence at the Western Wall, the pope
offered a prayer of peace to the Muslims. A few meters above, on
the walkway to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, he met with Sheikh Akrima Sabri.
The pope expressed the wish that "the All-Powerful bring peace to
the entire beloved region, so that all of the peoples that live
here may enjoy their rights, live in harmony and cooperation and be
witnesses of the one and only God in an act of goodwill and human
solidarity." He reiterated the same message before the Jews at the
Western Wall, reading Psalm 122:6-8: "Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem! May they prosper who love you! Peace be within your
walls, and security within your towers! For my brethren and
companions' sake I will say, 'Peace be with you!'"
Some Unfulfilled Expectations
Yet, however benevolent the attitude of the pope was in the places
that he visited, and however supreme the quality of his message, we
must recognize, alas, that he was not always understood and his
expectations not always fulfilled. As such, the ecumenical
encounter at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, with Patriarch
Diodoros and the representatives of the Christian churches, was
marked by a great moment of embarrassment. After the exchange of
speeches, the delegate to the Holy See in Jerusalem proposed in all
naiveté and generosity a gesture not foreseen in the program:
that all present recite the Lord's Prayer, "everyone in his own
language." All the Catholics accompanying the pope recited the
prayer in unison, in Latin. The Orthodox, almost all, kept silent.
One does not pray the Pater Noster outside the liturgy!
Another unforeseen embarrassing moment took place at the Notre Dame
Center. John Paul II had expressed the desire to meet with leading
representatives from both the Jewish and Muslim communities. Such
an audacious wager symbolized the pope's hope in a possible
cooperation on peace in the Holy Land between the three
monotheistic faiths. The wager was lost. The Grand Mufti of
Jerusalem, who, since the 1967 occupation and de facto annexation
of Jerusalem, has rejected any contact with Jewish religious
authorities, declined the invitation. Sheikh Taysir Tamimi, head of
the Islamic Courts of the Palestinian Authority, taking the place
of the Mufti, entered into a purely political argument affirming
Jerusalem as the "eternal capital city of Palestine."
Serene and sure of his message, the pope delivered his speech
without modifying the original text. Leaning on his stick, John
Paul II looked invincible, although confronted by this political
pollution of religious dialogue. On this occasion, he patiently put
into practice the counsel that Jesus gave his disciples: "Be
prudent as snakes and innocent as doves"(Matt. 10:16). This is
probably the reason why these speeches by the pope so directly and
so deeply touch the simple, and innocent listeners.
Nevertheless, we can deplore the blunders, or, more accurately, the
lapses in good taste incurred during his visit, whether by
ill-meaning or incompetent individuals.
One such slip in good taste was by the Israeli information service.
The broadcaster appointed to commentate on the radio on the pope's
visit was an obdurate testimony of the lack of understanding of
Christian identity. I would call him an "ambassador of bitterness
and resentment": Since he is a Christian, the pope cannot be but an
anti-Semite (writer's emphasis);
The lapse in good taste of Rabbi Lau, who had the chutzpa to ask
the pope to account for the silence of Pope Pius XII. This was
certainly not the right moment for such an inquiry;
The lapse in good taste of Sheikh Taysir Tamimi, who seemed to fear
the pope's visit would mean a re-conquest of Jerusalem by the
Christians;
The lapse in good taste of the muezzin of Bethlehem that
interrupted the pope's sermon during Holy Mass in front of the
Church of the Nativity;
The lapse in good taste of all those who wanted to confuse the
claims of nationalism, whatever those may be, with the religious
message of John Paul II;
If the humble and the simple welcomed his words, it is because they
had an open soul and felt themselves spontaneously in harmony with
his message. To all those who have not heard, or those who did not
want to hear, we are tempted to repeat the words of Jesus to those
whose hearts were closed to his words: "He who rejects me and does
not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken
will be his judge on the last day" (John 12:48).
<