"'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.

___________________________________________________________

 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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