Pope Francis Announces First Visit to Holy Land in May

Cecilia Zinicola

Correspondent (Europe)

 

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has announced on January 5, 2014 at Saint Peter’s Square that he will make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May of this year. The main purpose is to commemorate the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, which took place 50 years ago.

“In the climate of joy typical of this Christmas period, I would like to announce that from May 24 to 26, God willing, I will carry out a pilgrimage to the Holy Land,”  said the Pope.

Besides visiting Amman, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, he also said that he would be meeting with representatives of the Christian Churches of Jerusalem, together with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Conflict in Middle East

The Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the most known conflicts of the world; the origin is the historic claim to the land that lies between the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Today the situation of conflict is still not resolved, but both parts involved are in a negotiation process to reach an agreement that could end the 100-year Middle East conflict.

Pope Francis was invited by both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli President Shimon Peres in May and this announcement from the Vatican coincides with the visit that the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, is doing in Middle East to promote peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in order to find an agreement.

A “Favorable Outcome” to the Peace Process

Since the beginning of his pontificate on March 13, 2013, Pope Francis has made many appeals for peace in few opportunities by calling the international community to pray for peace. On September, after the chemical weapon attack to the Syrian nation, he invited the world to pray for this country, the entire Mideast region, and the whole world. He also promoted peace among all religions to move forward together towards reconciliation according to his message for the 46th World Day of Peace, celebrated on 1 January.

In his words: “A fundamental encouragement to this is to say no to revenge, to recognize injustices, to accept apologies without looking for them, and finally, to forgive, in such a way that mistakes and offenses can be acknowledged in truth, so as to move forward together towards reconciliation. This requires the growth of a pedagogy of pardon”.

Renewing this call to help ending wars around the world, at this time of Christmas period, the announcement of Pope Francis appears to reaffirm his words from last December 25, maintaining his commitment with peace.

“Bless the land where you chose to come into the world, and grant a favorable outcome to the peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians”.

Agenda Abroad

This visit to Holy Land will be the second international trip of Pope Francis, after participating last July at the World Youth Day (WYD) in Rio de Janeiro where millions of young people gathered to be with him to spread their enthusiasm, creativity and joy.

Image Courtesy: L’Osservatore Romano