"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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