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Pope Francis offers prayers at Israeli separation wall in Bethlehem Pope Francis offers prayers at Israeli separation wall in Bethlehem
(about 3 hours later)
Pope Francis confirmed his reputation for determined independence with an unscheduled stop to pray conspicuously for four minutes at the imposing Israeli separation wall as he passed through the West Bank city of Bethlehem. It is an image that will define the first visit of Pope Francis to the Holy Land as pontiff. Head bowed in prayer, the leader of the Catholic church pressed his palm against the graffiti-covered concrete of Israel's imposing "separation wall", a Palestinian girl holding a flag stood by his side. It was, as the pope's aides conceded later, a silent statement against a symbol of division and conflict.
The pope's prayer at a location replete with political significance and controversy came while he was travelling to an open-air mass in Manger Square. It was a powerful gesture made minutes after an appeal to both sides to end a conflict he said was no longer acceptable.
The dramatic gesture was followed with an invitation to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, to join him in Rome to meet and pray together for peace in an unprecedented papal intervention in the troubled peace process. The unscheduled, conspicuous stop halfway through his three-day visit to the Holy Land, made en route to an open air mass in Bethlehem's Manger Square, confirmed Francis's reputation for determined independence.
"In this, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, I wish to invite you, President Mahmoud Abbas, together with President Shimon Peres, to join me in heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace," he said. "I offer my home in the Vatican as a place for this encounter of prayer." So too did his invitation to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and Israeli president, Shimon Peres, to join him in Rome to meet and pray together for peace – an unprecedented papal intervention in the stalled peace process.
Asked about the invitation, a spokeswoman for Peres said the Israeli president "always accepts any kind of initiative to promote peace". While Abbas heads the Palestinian government, Peres's presidential post is largely ceremonial. Constructed by Israel as a so-called security fence for the protection of Israeli citizens from attack after the second intifada, the barrier weaves through the West Bank, cutting through swaths of Palestinian territory and containing Palestinian residents. The wall has become an emblem the Israeli occupation.
Pope Frances has insisted that the purpose of his first visit to the Holy Land as pontiff was purely spiritual. And yet he has certainly not shied from making bold political gestures during the trip. The pope's scheduled route took him alongside the wall, near Rachel's Tomb outside Bethlehem. His decision to step out of his white, open-sided pope mobile and approach it – just days after the Vatican insisted his visit would not be controversial – was a surprise, not least for the members of his own entourage.
His route had been planned to pass close by the separation wall. Palestinian officials had hoped he might stop briefly to contemplate the Israeli-built structure, which weaves through the occupied West Bank, but instead the pope stopped his cavalcade, stepped out of the white, glass covered pick-up truck and made his way up to the wall, where he was quickly surrounded by children from the nearby Aida refugee camp. Surrounded by Palestinian children, Francis's progress towards the concrete barrier was followed carefully by photographers and television cameras, as well as Israeli soldiers revealed in silhouette at the window of a nearby watchtower. "I know all about this," he is reported to have told one Palestinian official.
Approaching the wall, which is close to the main Israeli checkpoint by Rachel's Tomb, the pope put his palm to the towering concrete structure, covered with graffiti appeals to the Palestinian cause, and bowed his head in prayer, flanked by two girls with Palestinian flags. The heads of Israeli soldiers were visible at the window of a nearby watchtower. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said afterwards: "I was not informed [of his plans to stop]. It was planned by him the day before … It was a very significant way to demonstrate his participation in suffering … It was a profound spiritual moment in front of a symbol of division."
Frances's approach was remarkable in contrast to his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI, who entered Bethlehem through the Rachel's Tomb Israeli checkpoint. Previous pontiffs have flown into Tel Aviv and then proceeded through Israel into Palestinian territory. Frances flew directly into Bethlehem from Amman, bypassing any Israeli borders. Despite attempts by the Vatican to insist the visit was "purely religious", the trip has been loaded with political significance since his arrival in a convoy of Jordanian military helicopters from Amman. Other popes might fly into Tel Aviv and proceed through Israel into Palestinian territory. Francis, instead, elected to bypass all Israeli border points.
His decision to pray at the separation wall appeared to surprise his entourage. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said: "I was not informed before. It was planned by him the day before. It was not on the plan of the trip. In a carefully worded statement, delivered with Abbas in Bethlehem on Sunday, Francis referred directly to "the state of Palestine" and called on both sides to summon the courage to forge peace.
"At a certain point the pope came very near the dividing wall and then he stopped the car and went down and came near to the wall and remained there for some minutes, silent near the wall, praying but in a silent way. "For decades the Middle East has known the tragic consequences of a protracted conflict which has inflicted many wounds so difficult to heal," the pontiff declared. The situation, he said, has become "increasingly unacceptable".
"Then at the end he touched the wall then we went away. It was not a kiss or a blessing, it was a sign of contact and I think it was very significant way to demonstrate his participation in suffering … it was done in a silent praying way, but without words. It was a profound spiritual moment in front of a symbol of division." "Even in the absence of violence, the climate of instability and a lack of mutual understanding have produced insecurity, the violation of rights, isolation and the flight of entire communities, conflicts, shortages and sufferings of every sort."
In a carefully crafted statement, delivered in Bethlehem with Abbas, the pope recognised "the State of Palestine" and called on both sides to have the courage to make peace. Francis proceeded from the separation wall to Manger Square in Bethlehem, which was packed with thousands of Palestinian Christians waiting for the pontiff to lead a Sunday mass.
"For decades the Middle East has known the tragic consequences of a protracted conflict which has inflicted many wounds so difficult to heal," the pontiff said, describing the situation as "increasingly unacceptable". He entered the square – the reputed site of Christ's birth – to calls of "Viva al-Baba!" – or "Long live the pope!".
He added: "Even in the absence of violence, the climate of instability and a lack of mutual understanding have produced insecurity, the violation of rights, isolation and the flight of entire communities, conflicts, shortages and sufferings of every sort. The service began with a rendition of the Palestinian song Mawatani – My Homeland – that speaks to Palestinian desire for independence. Their voices echoed across a plaza hung with images linking Christ's suffering to that of the Palestinian people. The alter from which Francis delivered his massed showed a baby Jesus wrapped in a keffiyeh.
"In expressing my closeness to those who suffer most from this conflict, I wish to state my heartfelt conviction that the time has come to put an end to this situation which has become increasingly unacceptable. For the good of all, there is a need to intensify efforts and initiatives aimed at creating the conditions for a stable peace based on justice, on the recognition of the rights of every individual, and on mutual security." Francis ate lunch with five families in a community centre on the edge of Deheishe refugee camp before flying out of Bethlehem into Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport, where he was officially welcomed to Israel by Peres.
The pope continued: "The time has come for everyone to find the courage to be generous and creative in the service of the common good, the courage to forge a peace which rests on the acknowledgment by all of the right of two states to exist and to live in peace and security within internationally recognised borders." The helicopter flight meant Francis avoided crossing through the separation wall through a checkpoint as his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI had done.
Shortly after his prayer at the wall, Francis arrived at Manger Square, which was festooned with the Vatican's yellow-and-white flags and the Palestinian green. Thousands of Palestinian Christians, gathered for an open-air mass outside the Church of the Nativity, cheered "Viva al-Baba!" or "Long live the pope!" At Ben Gurion Peres welcomed the Francis, saying: "On behalf of the Jewish people and in the name of all the people of Israel, I welcome you with the age old words from the Book of Psalms: 'Welcome in the name of the Lord.' Welcome at the gates of Jerusalem."
The ceremony began with a rendition of Mawatani (My Homeland), a song that speaks to Palestinian desire for independence. Here, Francis once again diverted from his prepared script. In Tel Aviv, the pope deplored an attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels on Saturday that left four dead, which he described as "this criminal act of anti-Semitic hatred". He added, "with a deeply pained heart, I think of those who have lost their lives in the cruel attack that occurred yesterday in Brussels."
Security was light, with shunning the armoured popemobile used by predecessors. Only two bodyguards stood on the back of his vehicle as Palestinian police kept the crowd at bay. Francis waved and smiled warmly as his car made its way through the crowd. While in Israel the pope will visit the Holocaust memorial at Yad Vashem, lay a wreath at the grave of the founder of Zionism Theodor Herzl and meet with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew.
"I want the pope to see the situation of the Christians," said Salib Safar, 23, a hotel management student in Manger Square for the papal mass. "The wall [separation barrier], the occupation, the pressure on our lives." Francis will visit the holiest Christian sites in Jerusalem – including the Room of the Last Supper and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - as the long-term decline in the population of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land continues to plummet. A survey conducted by Near East Consulting and released in April found that two-thirds of Palestinian Christians would prefer to emigrate than live in their homeland.
The pope acknowledged the Palestinian Christian hardship and in his homily sought to encourage the younger generations with a strong plea for children around the globe to be protected and defended from war, poverty, disease and exile as refugees. Israeli authorities have imposed tight security measures during his visit, deploying an extra 8,000 police officers. Restrictions on movement throughout the city have prompted some Christians to complain they will have little chance of seeing Francis.
"All too many children continue to be exploited, maltreated, enslaved, prey to violence and illicit trafficking," he said, standing in front of a mural of the nativity scene in which the baby Jesus is wrapped in the black-and-white checkered Palestinian headdress. "Today in acknowledging this, we feel shame before God." Some of the security has been prompted by controversy over the pope's plan to celebrate mass at the Room of the Last Supper – or "Cenacle" – objected to by some Jewish religious hardliners who venerate the site as the tomb of King David. Sunday saw 26 arrested after throwing stones at police close to the site.
After the mass, Francis ate lunch with Palestinian families and visited a Palestinian refugee camp before flying to Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport. He will then travel on to Jerusalem.
At the start of his weekly cabinet meeting, the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, called the pope's visit "an opportunity to present to the world the real Israel – the advanced, modern, tolerant Israel". He added that Israel guaranteed freedom of religion for all faiths.
Israeli police have deployed 8,000 officers in Jerusalem with 320 CCTV cameras monitoring Jerusalem's old city. Early on Sunday, 26 Israelis were arrested for throwing stones at police officers and causing disturbances at a Jerusalem holy site where the pope will celebrate mass at the end of his trip.