Post date: Jan 05, 2014 1:51:15 PM
Pope Francis says he will make a three-day pilgrimage to the Middle East in May and thanks faithful for the numerous Christmas and New Year greetings he has received as he holds his first Sunday Angelus of the year.
VATICAN (JANUARY 5, 2014) (CTV) - Pope Francis announced on Sunday (January 5) that he will visit Holy Land sites in Jordan,Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories in May, his first trip to the area as pontiff.
The May 24-26 trip to Amman, Jerusalem and Bethlehem will mark the 50th anniversary of a landmark trip there by Pope Paul VI in 1964, the first by a pope in modern times. Pope John Paul II visited in 2000 and Benedict XVI went in 2009.Francis, who has made many appeals for peace in the Middle East since his election in March, announced the trip to thousands of people in St. Peter's Square for his Sunday address. He was invited by both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres.
"Brothers and sisters, in the climate of joy, typical to the Christmas season, I wish to announce that from 24 to 26 of next May, God willing, I will be making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land," the pope said, prompting loud cheers from the large crowds.
"The main purpose is to commemorate the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and PatriarchAthenagoras, which took place exactly on January 5th, like today, 50 years ago. There will be three stops:Amman, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Three days. At the Holy Sepulchre we will celebrate an Ecumenical Meeting with all the representatives of the Christian Churches of Jerusalem, together with PatriarchBartholomew of Constantinople. As of now I ask you to pray for this pilgrimage which will be a pilgrimage of prayer," he said.
Many Christian Holy Land sites are in Israel's Galilee region but Bethlehem, revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus, is in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in the Palestinian Territories. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus is said to have been buried and which the pope said he will visit, is inJerusalem's Old City.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed direct peace negotiations in late July after three years of stalemate. The Vatican has urged both sides to make "courageous and determined" decisions to move closer to peace, with the help of the international community.
Wrapping up his first Sunday Angelus of 2014, Francis told the crowds he was grateful for the large number of Christmas and New Year greetings he had been sent in the past weeks.
"I would like to but it is impossible to answer them all! So I would like to thank from my heart the children, for their beautiful drawings. It really is true, the children do beautiful drawings, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I thank the children first and I would also like to thank the youth, the elderly, the families, the parishes and religious communities, associations, movements and groups who have wanted to show me affection and closeness. I ask everyone to continue to pray for me, I need it and to pray for my service to the Church," he said.
The busy Christmas period was the first for Pope Francis as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He is due to conduct Epiphany Mass on Monday (January 6) morning at the Vatican.