"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.   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)