Pope Benedict XVI's Historic Visit

The Pope’s visit to the Holy Land displays the sad state of secular news in the United States. There has been scant reporting on what I feel is a historic visit. This is a region where great religions intersect; it is the major fault line of our time. Furthermore, believers in Yeshua/Jesus Christ are closely watching for His imminent return although none of us know the exact time or day.

The Pope displayed courage yesterday when he walked out during a ranting speech by the head of the Palestinian Sharia court, Sheikh Taysir al-Tamimi. It was clear from watching the event live that the Pope had no idea what Al-Tamimi was saying because there was no simultaneous translation. When Al-Tamimi's words became apparent, the Pope's advisors tried to interrupt Al-Tamimi. Al Tamimi fiercely denounced Israeli policy in the presence of Pope Benedict on Monday and appealed to the pope to help end what he called the "crimes of the Jewish state." Speaking at an interfaith conference held at the Notre Dame Church in East Jerusalem, al-Tamimi accused Israel of slaughtering women, children and senior citizens. The speech was delivered in Arabic, without simultaneous translation, but after the pope was informed of the political nature of al-Tamimi's speech, he walked out of the conference.

The Sheikh opened his impromptu speech with a story about Saladin, who upheld the rights of Christians after he conquered Jerusalem, stressing that Islam and Christianity must unite against "the Israeli occupation and bring about an independent Palestinian state." "Israel destroyed our home, exiled our people, built settlements, ruined the Muslim holy sites, and slaughtered women, children and senior citizens in Gaza," he continued. At this point, the conference's organizers tried to persuade al-Tamimi to end his spontaneous speech, but to no avail. Addressing the pope at the end of his six-minute address, he said: "Your Holiness, I call on you in the name of the one God, to condemn these crimes and press the Israeli government to halt its aggression against the Palestinian people." Al-Tamimi shook the pope's hand as he left the podium.

The director general of Israel's Chief Rabbinate, Oded Wiener, said, "Sheikh Tamimi embarrassed the pope." He said Tamimi, a familiar and fiery figure in Palestinian public life, had pressured the Catholic organizers to be allowed to speak and that the Jewish members would no longer take part in a long-standing, three-way interfaith dialogue until the sheikh is barred from attending. "The Chief Rabbinate will not continue it as long as Tamimi is part of the Palestinian delegation," Wiener said.

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov, charged with the pope's visit to Israel, said that Tamimi's statements "hurt, first and foremost, Pope Benedict XVI who came to the Holy Land to promote peace and unity between the peoples of the region and all persons of faith. Israel condemns these words of hatred uttered by the sheikh, who instead of fostering peace and coexistence chose to plant seeds of division and confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as between Jews, Muslims and Christians." It is a shame that an extremist was the one who represented the Palestinians and the Muslims in this important event in the presence of Pope Benedict.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said, "The speech by Sheikh Taysir Tamimi was not scheduled by the organizers of the meeting. In a meeting dedicated to dialogue, this intervention was a direct negation of what a dialogue should be. We hope that such an incident will not damage the mission of the pope aiming at promoting peace and also inter-religious dialogue."

The incident further marred the start of the German-born pope's five-day tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories. Pope Benedict, in his own speech to the gathering of priests, rabbis and sheikhs, praised their efforts to seek common values and mutual respect to overcome differences in religious practices that "may at times appear as barriers."

Pope Benedict XVI pledged Monday to remember the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, seeking to repair strains with Jews over one of the most sensitive issues at the start of a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Pope Benedict’s calls for the establishment of a Palestinian homeland threatened to overshadow the visit by putting him at odds with his Israeli hosts. While Benedict has spoken in favor of a Palestinian homeland in the past, the timing and location of his comments were noteworthy.

This is my main bone of contention with the Pope. Israel via Abraham was given the land in a covenant with God. We, as believers in Yeshua are given our eternal salvation by his blood covenant for us. The Jews cannot not relinquish their covenant with Adonai any more than Yeshua can relinquish his covenant with us. Consider the Holy Scripture below:

(Nehemiah 9:7-8) Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; {8} And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:

(Nehemiah 9:23) Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

(1 Kings 8:56) Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

(Ezekiel 37:25) And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

Each time Israel has given up land it has brought violence upon Israelis, for example, the rocket attacks in Gaza by Hamas and the withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

Why doesn’t the Vatican give its small parcel of land back to the Italian state? Why not revoke the Lateran Treaty that the Vatican made with Benito Mussolini? If my memory serves me correctly the Vatican struggle for centuries to free itself from the whims of secular rulers in Europe.

By supporting a division of Israel’s land I feel the Pope will bring harm on the papacy or the Roman Catholic Church. This is the time for the Roman Catholic Church to support Israel. This period of history we are living in is a prelude to the "Times of Jacob’s Troubles".

(Jeremiah 30:7) Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Benedict is using a week long pilgrimage to the Holy Land to reach out to Christians, Muslims and Jews. He spent three days in neighboring Jordan before arriving in Israel.

Pope Benedict wants to put a “freeze” on increasing tensions in Jewish-Catholic relations over recent disputes and he also wants to show his solidarity with Christians who are emigrating from the region in large numbers because of Muslim persecution.

"It is right and fitting that during my stay in Israel, I will have the opportunity to honor the memory of the 6 million Jewish victims of the shoah and to pray that humanity will never again witness a crime of such magnitude," the German-born pontiff told a welcoming ceremony at Israel's international airport, using the Hebrew word for Holocaust. He laid a wreath at Israel's national Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem.

While Israel's relations with the Vatican have improved greatly since Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, visited in 2000, differences remain, none deeper than the widespread belief in Israel that the Vatican did not do enough to halt the Nazi genocide of European Jewry.

Israel and the Vatican are at odds over the legacy of World War II pontiff Pius XII, a candidate for sainthood. Benedict has referred to Pius as a great churchman, and in September, he praised what he called Pius' "courageous and paternal dedication" in trying to save Jews by quiet diplomacy.

Although Benedict did not visit the main part of the museum, the visit to the Yad Vashem museum was closely watched for two reasons.

First, the Pope recently lifted the excommunication order on Bishop Richard Williamson, an anti-Semitic breakaway bishop who denies the Holocaust.

The controversy surrounding Bishop Williamson has caused officials in the Vatican to discuss reforming of Vatican communications. It became clear that the lifting of the excommunications on the four bishops was carried out with minimal consultation within the Vatican. A common pattern has emerged in this pontificate that shows that Pope Benedict is being poorly advised on possible fallout from his remarks.

Papal spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope was unaware of Bishop Williamson’s anti-Semitism before the decision was taken to lift his excommunication. Williamson and three other bishops were excommunicated in 1988 for agreeing to be consecrated as bishops of the breakaway Society of St. Pius X without the consent of John Paul II.

It looked to some as if the German-born Pope was condoning or ignoring Williamson’s anti-Semitic views. Only days before Williamson was restored to full rights in the Church he denied the extent of the Holocaust on a Swedish television interview. To make matters worse, the announcement on the lifting of his excommunication was made on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Second, an exhibit at Yad Vashem contains a controversial description of Pope Pius XII. The Vatican has protested the museum's caption beneath a photograph of Pius XII that claims the wartime pope did little to save the Jews during the World War II and did not protest the Nazi genocide of Jews and maintained a "neutral position." The Vatican hopes the caption will be revised, and has already asked several influential Jewish dignitaries and historians, such as Britain’s Sir Martin Gilbert, to exert pressure to change it.

Ties between the Vatican and Israel were further strained when a senior Vatican official said during Israel's recent military campaign in Gaza that the territory resembled a "big concentration camp." Benedict has also faced questions for his involvement in the Hitler Youth during the war. Benedict said he was coerced like many young Germans during that time.

Despite the Bishop Williamson affair and other problems, some Jewish leaders fully support the Pope coming to the Holy Land. Oded Wiener, spokesman for the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, said the trip was “very important for us, a visit that we’re expecting.” Giuseppe Lara, president of the Assembly of Italian Rabbis, has said that the visit would be “a good thing”.

As soon as the pope arrived at the airport, he urged Israelis and Palestinians to resolve their differences. "The hopes of countless men, women and children for a more secure and stable future depend on the outcome of negotiations for peace. In union with people of goodwill everywhere, I plead with all those responsible to explore every possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstanding difficulties, so that both peoples may live in peace in a homeland of their own within secure and internationally recognized borders."

During a visit with Israeli President Shimon Peres Benedict said, "I hear the cry of those who live in this land for justice, for peace, for respect for their dignity, for lasting security, a daily life free from the fear of outside threats and senseless violence."

Before speaking, the pope met privately with Peres and the parents of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, who was captured by Hamas militants three years ago and remains in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

The pope has tried to improve interfaith relations throughout his four-year papacy, and as a cardinal, had a long record of promoting dialogue with other faiths. But Benedict has had to tread carefully on his Middle East visit because of past gaffes.

Benedict angered many in the Muslim world three years ago when he quoted a medieval text that characterized some of Islam's Prophet Muhammad's teachings as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith." He later expressed regret that his comments offended Muslims. Before leaving Jordan, he said he had a "deep respect" for Islam.

Israeli police shut down a media center for the pope's visit that the Palestinian Authority had set up at an east Jerusalem hotel. Israeli authorities object to any attempt by the Palestinians to use east Jerusalem for official business because that would suggest Palestinian sovereignty there. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 “Six Day War” and the Palestinians claim it as capital of a future state.