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Benedict visits Middle East as pilgrim and pastorPosted: 05.07.09 Pope Benedict begins a weeklong trip to Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories May 8. It may well be his most difficult foreign trip yet. The complexities of the political and religious relationships in those lands are a challenge for anyone. When the pontiff visited the United States a year ago, he was well received, despite coming to a country where Christianity is supposedly in decline, according to polls. In late 2006, the pope went to Turkey, where he addressed the region’s significant Muslim population and visited a mosque. This was on the heels of comments Pope Benedict made in a speech in September 2006 at a university in Regensburg, Germany, which angered many Muslims. In his other trips, he has continued to warn of the secularization of culture and a shift away from God. However, Benedict’s pilgrimage to the Middle East may be even more precarious, as he travels to a land in turmoil. It is a place where the three major monotheistic religions share heritage and maintain holy places, but where, sadly, peace remains elusive. We can only hope that one day, those who came to know God through Abraham – and all people of good will – will peacefully coexist as God intends. The pope will first visit Jordan, where his itinerary features a stop at a mosque and an address to a Muslim audience. A Mass for Catholics, who make up a minuscule percentage of the population, is scheduled as well. In Israel, he will visit cities significant to the life of Christ: Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem. While in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, he will visit a Palestinian refugee camp, in what is sure to be a politically charged event, because of the location and the ongoing tensions in the region. Benedict will not be present as a diplomat, but as a pilgrim and pastor. If, however, in those roles, he can bring a sense of wisdom and peace to those involved, that is a benefit. Mostly, however, he brings his support to the Catholic Christian community there, which is a minority. Cardinal John P. Foley, a Philadelphia native who is grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher that supports the Catholic presence in the Holy Land, told the national newspaper Our Sunday Visitor that it is important for the pope to “reinforce the presence of the Christian community which is already there.” In advance of the pope’s visit to the region, Cardinal Foley told OSV, “It’s the land of Jesus. The God-man lived there. The birthplace of the Church is there. And what a tragedy if the place where Jesus himself lived, and the Church began, did not continue to have the presence of an active Christian community.” Before his departure, Pope Benedict on May 4 asked for prayers for his trip and peace in the region. He said he was making the trip as a “pilgrim of peace, in the name of the one God who is father of all.” We are not naïve enough to think that the pope can make such a visit only as a spiritual exercise; everyone, including the pope and his aides at the Vatican Secretariat of State, are aware of the political implications. Even so, if the pope is asking for our prayerful support for the success of this pilgrimage, we can do no less than that.
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