"'Adam, where are you?'. Where are you, o man? What have you come to?
In this place, this memorial of the Shoah, we hear God's question echo once
more: 'Adam, where are you?' This question is charged with all the sorrow
of a Father who has lost his child. The Father knew the risk of freedom; he
knew that his children could be lost... yet perhaps not even the Father
could imagine so great a fall, so profound an abyss! Here, before the
boundless tragedy of the Holocaust, that cry - "Where are you?" -
echoes like a faint voice in an unfathomable abyss...
 "Adam, who are you? I no longer recognise you. Who are you, o man?
What have you become? Of what horror have you been capable? What made you
fall to such depths? Certainly it is not the dust of the earth from which
you were made. The dust of the earth is something good, the work of my
hands. Certainly it is not the breath of life which I breathed into you.
That breath comes from me, and it is something good.
 "No, this abyss is not merely the work of your own hands, your own
heart... Who corrupted you? Who disfigured you? Who led you to presume that
you are the master of good and evil? Who convinced you that you were god?
Not only did you torture and kill your brothers and sisters, but you
sacrificed them to yourself, because you made yourself a god.
 "Today, in this place, we hear once more the voice of God:
"Adam, where are you?"
 "From the ground there rises up a soft cry: 'Have mercy on us, O
Lord!' To you, O Lord our God, belongs righteousness; but to us confusion
of face and shame.
 "A great evil has befallen us, such as never happened under the
heavens. Now, Lord, hear our prayer, hear our plea, save us in your mercy.
Save us from this horror.
 "Almighty Lord, a soul in anguish cries out to you. Hear, Lord, and
have mercy! We have sinned against you. You reign for ever. Remember us in
your mercy. Grant us the grace to be ashamed of what we men have done, to
be ashamed of this massive idolatry, of having despised and destroyed our
own flesh which you formed from the earth, to which you gave life with your
own breath of life. Never again, Lord, never again!
 "'Adam, where are you?' Here we are, Lord, shamed by what man,
created in your own image and likeness, was capable of doing. Remember us
in your mercy".
 The Holy Father concluded his visit by speaking with some Holocaust
survivors and signed the Yad Vashem Book of Honour, where he wrote:
"With shame for what man, created in the image and likeness of God,
was able to do. With shame that man become the patron of evil; with the
shame for what man, believing himself to be god, sacrificed his brothers to
himself. Never again! Never again!"
 He bid farewell to the chorus and the authorities who had greeted him upon
arrival, and left by car for the Heichal Shlomo Centre.

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 AT THE CHIEF RABBINATE OF ISRAEL: OUR FRIENDSHIP IS ONE OF THE FRUITS OF
VATICAN COUNCIL II
 Vatican City, 26 May 2014 (VIS) - Pope Francis today paid a courtesy visit
to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel at the Heichal Shlomo, where he met with
the two Chief Rabbis, Yona Metzger (Ashkenazi) and Shlomo Amar (Sephardi).
Both also met with Benedict XVI during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in
2009.
 After a brief discussion with the two Rabbis, Francis addressed those
gathered at Heichal Shlomo, first demonstrating his joy for the warm
welcome he has received and then commenting that, as archbishop of Buenos
Aires, he had counted many Jewish brethren among his friends.
 "Together we organised rewarding occasions of encounter and dialogue;
with them I also experienced significant moments of sharing on a spiritual
level. In the first months of my pontificate, I was able to receive various
organisations and representatives from the Jewish community worldwide. As
was the case with my predecessors, there have been many requests for such
meetings. Together with the numerous initiatives taking place on national
and local levels, these testify to our mutual desire to know one another
better, to listen to each other and to build bonds of true
fraternity".
 He observed, "This journey of friendship represents one of the fruits
of the Second Vatican Council, and particularly of the Declaration Nostra
Aetate, which proved so influential and whose fiftieth anniversary we will
celebrate next year. I am convinced that the progress which has been made
in recent decades in the relationship between Jews and Catholics has been a
genuine gift of God, one of those great works for which we are called to
bless his holy name: 'Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his love
endures forever; who alone has wrought marvellous works, for his love
endures forever'".
 "A gift of God, yes, but one which would not have come about without
the efforts of so many courageous and generous people, Jews and Christians
alike. Here I would like to mention in particular the growing importance of
the dialogue between the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy See's
Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. Inspired by the visit of
Pope John Paul II to the Holy Land, this dialogue was inaugurated in 2002
and is already in its twelfth year. I would like to think that, in terms of
the Jewish tradition of the Bar Mitzvah, it is just coming of age. I am
confident that it will continue and have a bright future in years to
come".
 "We need to do more than simply establish reciprocal and respectful
relations on a human level", he remarked. "We are also called, as
Christians and Jews, to reflect deeply on the spiritual significance of the
bond existing between us. It is a bond whose origins are from on high, one
which transcends our own plans and projects, and one which remains intact
despite all the difficulties which, sadly, have marked our relationship in
the past. On the part of Catholics, there is a clear intention to reflect
deeply on the significance of the Jewish roots of our own faith. I trust
that, with your help, on the part of Jews too, there will be a continued
and even growing interest in knowledge of Christianity, also in this holy
land to which Christians trace their origins. This is especially to be
hoped for among young people".
 "Mutual understanding of our spiritual heritage, appreciation for
what we have in common and respect in matters on which we disagree: all
these can help to guide us to a closer relationship, an intention which we
put in God's hands. Together, we can make a great contribution to the cause
of peace; together, we can bear witness, in this rapidly changing world, to
the perennial importance of the divine plan of creation; together, we can
firmly oppose every form of anti-Semitism and all other forms of
discrimination", he concluded. "May the Lord help us to walk with
confidence and strength in his ways. Shalom!"

___________________________________________________________

 MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL: MAY JERUSALEM TRULY BE
THE CITY OF PEACE
 Vatican City, 26 May 2014 (VIS) - Pope Francis and the president of the
State of Israel, Shimon Peres, met this morning in the Presidential Palace.
It was a very cordial private meeting during which the Holy Father
commented that he would like to invent a new Beatitude, "one I can
apply to myself today: 'Blessed is he who enters the house of a wise and
good man". They then left the building for the palace gardens to plant
an olive tree together as a symbol of peace. This was followed by the
public meeting, which took place on a specially installed stage, in the
presence of around a hundred children of various religions.
 "I am grateful to you, Mr President, for your kind and sage words of
greeting and your warm welcome", said the Holy Father. "I am
happy to be able to meet you once again, this time in Jerusalem, the city
which preserves the Holy Places dear to the three great religions which
worship the God who called Abraham. The Holy Places are not monuments or
museums for tourists, but places where communities of believers daily
express their faith and culture, and carry out their works of charity.
Precisely for this reason, their sacred character must be perpetually
maintained and protection given not only to the legacy of the past but also
to all those who visit these sites today and to those who will visit them
in the future. May Jerusalem be truly the City of Peace! May her identity
and her sacred character, her universal religious and cultural significance
shine forth as a treasure for all mankind! How good it is when pilgrims and
residents enjoy free access to the Holy Places and can freely take part in
religious celebrations".
 "Mr President, you are known as a man of peace and a
peacemaker", he continued. "I appreciate and admire the approach
you have taken. Peacemaking demands first and foremost respect for the
dignity and freedom of every human person, which Jews, Christians and
Muslims alike believe to be created by God and destined to eternal life.
This shared conviction enables us resolutely to pursue peaceful solutions
to every controversy and conflict. Here I renew my plea that all parties
avoid initiatives and actions which contradict their stated determination
to reach a true agreement and that they tirelessly work for peace, with
decisiveness and tenacity".
 "There is likewise the need for a firm rejection of all that is
opposed to the cultivation of peace and respectful relations between Jews,
Christians and Muslims. We think, for example, of recourse to violence and
terrorism, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race or religion,
attempts to impose one's own point of view at the expense of the rights of
others, anti-Semitism in all its possible expressions, and signs of
intolerance directed against individuals or places of worship, be they
Jewish, Christian or Muslim".
 He recalled that "a variety of Christian communities live and work in
the State of Israel. They are an integral part of society and participate
fully in its civic, political and cultural affairs. Christians wish, as
such, to contribute to the common good and the growth of peace; they wish
to do so as full-fledged citizens who reject extremism in all its forms and
are committed to fostering reconciliation and harmony. The presence of
these communities and respect for their rights - as for the rights of all
other religious groups and all minorities - are the guarantee of a healthy
pluralism and proof of the vitality of democratic values as they are
authentically embodied in the daily life and workings of the State".
 "Mr President", he concluded, "you know that I pray for you
and I know that you are praying for me, and I assure you of my continued
prayers for the institutions and the citizens of the State of Israel. I
likewise assure you of my constant prayer for the attainment of peace and
all the inestimable goods which accompany it: security, tranquillity,
prosperity and - the most beautiful of all - fraternity. Finally, my
thoughts turn to all those afflicted by the continuing crises in the Middle
East. I pray that their sufferings may soon be alleviated by an honourable
resolution of hostilities. Peace be upon Israel and the entire Middle East!
Shalom!".
 The Pontiff, following the meeting, continued his visit at the Pontifical
Institute "Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centre", a centre of the
Augustine Fathers of the Assumption of France, which welcomes pilgrims to
the Holy Land and is considered as an ecumenical centre and territorial
prelature, whose prelate is the Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem and
Palestine. Here he received in private audience the prime minister of
Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.

___________________________________________________________

 OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
 Vatican City, 26 May 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Bishop
Felipe Gonzalez Gonzalez, O.F.M. Cap., as apostolic vicar of Caroni (area
80,309, population 58,800, Catholics 43,700, priests 7, religious 26),
Venezuela Bishop was previoiusly apostolic vicar of Tucupita, Venezuela.

___________________________________________________________

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