"It is an extraordinary grace to be gathered here in prayer", he
continued. "The empty tomb, that new garden grave where Joseph of
Arimathea had reverently placed Jesus' body, is the place from which the
proclamation of the resurrection begins. ... This proclamation, confirmed
by the testimony of those to whom the risen Lord appeared, is the heart of
the Christian message, faithfully passed down from generation to
generation. ... This is the basis of the faith which unites us, whereby
together we profess that Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Father
and our sole Lord, 'suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and
was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the
dead'. Each of us, everyone baptised in Christ, has spiritually risen from
this tomb, for in baptism all of us truly became members of the body of the
One who is the Firstborn of all creation; we were buried together with him,
so as to be raised up with him and to walk in newness of life".
 "Let us receive the special grace of this moment. We pause in
reverent silence before this empty tomb in order to rediscover the grandeur
of our Christian vocation: we are men and women of resurrection, and not of
death. From this place we learn how to live our lives, the trials of our
Churches and of the whole world, in the light of Easter morning. ... Let us
not allow ourselves to be robbed of the basis of our hope! Let us not
deprive the world of the joyful message of the resurrection! And let us not
be deaf to the powerful summons to unity which rings out from this very
place, in the words of the One who, risen from the dead, calls all of us
'my brothers'".
 "Clearly we cannot deny the divisions which continue to exist among
us, the disciples of Jesus", he observed. "This sacred place
makes us even more painfully aware of how tragic they are. And yet, fifty
years after the embrace of those two venerable Fathers, we realise with
gratitude and renewed amazement how it was possible, at the prompting of
the Holy Spirit, to take truly significant steps towards unity. We know
that much distance still needs to be travelled before we attain that
fullness of communion which can also be expressed by sharing the same
Eucharistic table, something we ardently desire; yet our disagreements must
not frighten us and paralyse our progress. We need to believe that, just as
the stone before the tomb was cast aside, so too every obstacle to our full
communion will also be removed. This will be a grace of resurrection, of
which we can have a foretaste even today. Every time we ask forgiveness of
one another for our sins against other Christians and every time we find
the courage to grant and receive such forgiveness, we experience the
resurrection! Every time we put behind us our long-standing prejudices and
find the courage to build new fraternal relationships, we confess that
Christ is truly risen! Every time we reflect on the future of the Church in
the light of her vocation to unity, the dawn of Easter breaks forth! Here I
reiterate the hope already expressed by my predecessors for a continued
dialogue with all our brothers and sisters in Christ, aimed at finding a
means of exercising the specific ministry of the Bishop of Rome which, in
fidelity to his mission, can be open to a new situation and can be, in the
present context, a service of love and of communion acknowledged by
all".
 "Standing as pilgrims in these holy places, we also remember in our
prayers the entire Middle East, so frequently and lamentably marked by acts
of violence and conflict. Nor do we forget in our prayers the many other
men and women who in various parts of our world are suffering from war,
poverty and hunger, as well as the many Christians who are persecuted for
their faith in the risen Lord. When Christians of different confessions
suffer together, side by side, and assist one another with fraternal
charity, there is born an ecumenism of suffering, an ecumenism of blood,
which proves particularly powerful not only for those situations in which
it occurs, but also, by virtue of the communion of the saints, for the
whole Church as well. Those who kill, who persecute Christians out of
hatred, do not ask if they are Orthodox or Catholics: they are Christians.
The blood of Christians is the same".
 Finally, addressing Bartholomew and all those present, he said, "Your
Holiness, beloved brother, dear brothers and sisters all, let us put aside
the misgivings we have inherited from the past and open our hearts to the
working of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love, in order to hasten together
towards that blessed day when our full communion will be restored. In
making this journey, we feel ourselves sustained by the prayer which Jesus
himself, in this city, on the eve of his passion, death and resurrection,
offered to the Father for his disciples. It is a prayer which we ourselves
in humility never tire to make our own: 'that they may all be one... that
the world may believe'. And when disunity makes us pessimistic,
distrusting, fearful, let us all commend ourselves to the protection of the
Holy Mother of God. When there is spiritual turmoil in the Christian soul,
it is only by seeking refuge under her mantle that we can find peace. May
the Holy Mother of God help us on this journey".
 After this discourse, the Pope and the Patriarch embraced as a sign of
peace and prayed the Lord's Prayer together in Italian, while the others
present did so in their own languages. They then entered the Sepulchre to
venerate the empty tomb, after which they ascended to the Basilica together
to bless the people. They then continued to Mount Calvary, accompanied by
the Greek and Armenian Patriarchs and the Custodian of the Holy Land, to
venerate the place of Jesus' death and crucifixion.

___________________________________________________________

 THE POPE AT THE ESPLANADE OF THE MOSQUES: MAY NO-ONE ABUSE THE NAME OF GOD
FOR VIOLENT ENDS
 Vatican City, 26 May 2014 (VIS) - Early this morning the Holy Father
visited the Esplanade of the Mosques, or Temple Mount. An artificial
esplanade, trapezoid in shape, it occupies a sixth of the surface area of
the Old City. This area is significant for the three monotheistic
religions, and is thrice holy: for Jews, it is the place where Abraham
would have sacrificed Isaac, as well as the site of the Temple of Solomon;
for Muslims, it is the third destination for pilgrims after Mecca and
Medina; and for Christians, it is the place of Christ's prophecy of the
destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem. In the area there are two of most
important Muslim shrines, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
 The Pope's car entered by the al-Asbat gate and arrived at the entrance of
the Dome of the Rock, where he was received by the Great Mufti Muhammad
Ahmad Husayn, supreme judicial-religious authority of Jerusalem and the
Arab Muslim people in Palestine, and the director-general of the council of
the "Waqf" (Islamic religious assets). After a brief visit he was
accompanied to the Al-Kubbah Al-Nahawiyya building, where he was awaited by
the high representatives of the Islamic community.
 "Following in the footsteps of my predecessors, and in particular the
historic visit of Pope Paul VI fifty years ago, the first visit of a Pope
to the Holy Land, I have greatly desired to come as a pilgrim to the places
which witnessed the earthly presence of Jesus Christ", said the Pope.
But my pilgrimage would not be complete if it did not also include a
meeting with the people and the communities who live in this Land. I am
particularly happy, therefore, to be with you, dear Muslim faithful,
brothers. Francis recalled Abraham, "who lived as a pilgrim in these
lands. Muslims, Christians and Jews see in him, albeit in different ways, a
father in faith and a great example to be imitated. He became a pilgrim,
leaving his own people and his own house in order to embark on that
spiritual adventure to which God called him".
 The Pope went on to describe a pilgrim as, like Abraham, "a person
who makes himself poor and sets forth on a journey. Pilgrims set out
intently toward a great and longed-for destination, and they live in the
hope of a promise received. This was how Abraham lived, and this should be
our spiritual attitude. We can never think ourselves self-sufficient,
masters of our own lives. We cannot be content with remaining withdrawn,
secure in our convictions. Before the mystery of God we are all poor. We
realise that we must constantly be prepared to go out from ourselves,
docile to God's call and open to the future that he wishes to create for
us.
 "In our earthly pilgrimage we are not alone. We cross paths with
other faithful; at times we share with them a stretch of the road and at
other times we experience with them a moment of rest which refreshes us.
Such is our meeting today, for which I am particularly grateful. It is a
welcome and shared moment of rest, made possible by your hospitality, on
the pilgrimage of our life and that of our communities. We are experiencing
a fraternal dialogue and exchange which are able to restore us and offer us
new strength to confront the common challenges before us".
 "Nor can we forget that the pilgrimage of Abraham was also a summons
to righteousness", he continued. "God wanted him to witness his
way of acting and to imitate him. We too wish to witness to God's working
in the world, and so, precisely in this meeting, we hear deep within us his
summons to work for peace and justice, to implore these gifts in prayer and
to learn from on high mercy, magnanimity and compassion".
 In conclusion, the Pope launched an appeal to "all communities who
look to Abraham: may we respect and love one another as brothers and
sisters! May we learn to understand the sufferings of others! May no one
abuse the name of God through violence! May we work together for justice
and peace! Salaam!"

___________________________________________________________

 POPE FRANCIS AT THE WESTERN WALL
 Vatican City, 25 May 2014 (VIS) - At 8 a.m. the Pope transferred from
Temple Mount to the Western Wall, or "Wailing Wall". Fifteen
metres high, this wall is a place of worship for the Jews for historical
and religious reasons, and is linked to numerous traditions such as that of
leaving prayers written on small pieces of paper between the blocks of the
wall. Francis was received by the Chief Rabbi, who accompanied him to the
wall. The Pope prayed in silence before the wall and, like his
predecessors, left a piece of paper on which he had written the Lord's
Prayer; he said, "I have written it in Spanish because it is the
language I learned from my mother".
 He then proceeded to Monte Herzl where, in accordance with protocol on
official visits and assisted by a Christian boy and girl, he left a wreath
of flowers in the Israel national cemetery at the tomb of Theodore Herzl,
founder of the Zionist movement. The Holy Father also strayed slightly from
his itinerary to pray at a tomb for the victims of terrorism in Israel.
 He then travelled by car to the Yad Vashem Memorial, a monument built in
1953 by the State of Israel to commemorate the six million Jewish victims
of the Holocaust. Along with the president and director of the Centre, the
Pope walked around the perimeter of the Mausoleum before entering the
Remembrance Hall, where he was awaited by the president, the prime
minister, and the Rabbi president of the Council of Yad Vashem. Inside the
Hall there is a monument with an eternal flame positioned in front of the
crypt, which contains several urns with the ashes of victims of various
concentration camps. The Pope lit the flame, placed a yellow and white
floral wreath in the Mausoleum and, before his address, read from the Old
Testament. He then spoke briefly about strength and the pain of man's
inhuman evil and on the "structures of sin" that oppose the
dignity of the human person, created in the image and semblance of God.

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