Shalom, Pope Benedict, thanks for your visit to Israel

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So! Pope Benedict XVI is leaving the Chair of Peter!

Here in my photo he is leaving the gold and red chair on stage after celebrating an outdoor  Mass in Jerusalem's Kidron Valley.
That was is 2009.
It took me five blog posts to show you all the interesting things from that once-in-a-lifetime happening.
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Tonight the Franciscan Media Center in Jerusalem released a very moving short video of the Pope's historic visit to Israel (and other places), together with his reading of his letter of resignation before the Cardinals.
In several versions of the video, his Latin is translated on screen:
 to English here and to Italian here,  while French is here.
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(Linked to Our World Tuesday.)

Safety dungeon, confession

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As a former translator I had to laugh at this rendering of the Hebrew term bor bitachon! Normally it is translated "safety pit." (You find them at every public place in Israel. It is a barrel buried in the ground, with a lid, in which to put a found suspicious object , e.g. a bomb, until the police sapper arrives. )
But Safety Dungeon???

This sign was there for the Pontifical Mass which was celebrated on Franciscan property in Jerusalem's Kidron Valley.
Click to enlarge and you can see their emblem, the crossed arms of Jesus and St. Francis.
So what did I find amusing? Well, in a moment of (Jewish) collective memory I imagined dungeons of the Inquisition; I wondered if the sign's translator-friar had unconsciously been influenced by the vocabulary of his inquisitor brothers from the Middle Ages, like, in a moment of (Catholic) collective memory.

Thank God, nothing and no one was put down in the dungeon during Mass on May 14.
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I do have a confession, however. I erred.
When reporting to you about Pope Benedict's Mass (here, here, here, and here) I assumed, since there were no statistics afterward in the media, that the place built specially for the event (to hold 6,000 people) was pretty much full.
A few days ago the newspapers suddenly announced that Church officials were "perplexed" about the low turnout for the Jerusalem Mass.
 It seems that only 3,000 (or 3,500 according to the Franciscan website) of us got through the gate.
Sorry about that. I must remember the old rule: Assume nothing.
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Final post on our big day with the Pope

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This whole week has been exciting, both in Jerusalem and for this blog, having Pope Benedict XVI in town.
Tuesday the blog showed him celebrating Mass.
Today we continue showing the mood in the flock who came to the Kidron Valley.

Click on any of the photos to see them full screen.

We had three hours before Mass began.
Meanwhile, the Arab Catholic Scouts marched and played lively music on the bagpipes and drums.

The tradition, hundreds of years old, is that several Muslim men like these in the old Ottoman Turkish garb lead the way for special ceremonial processions of Christian clergy, tapping the ground with their staffs as they walk.
They are called kawassim. 

I'm not sure this man is a monk, at least not yet.
He had no full recognizable habit on. And the tonsure on the head is not done much these days.

These monks are from a monastery not far from Jerusalem.

The Carthusian order lives in silence and solitude. This event was a real field day for them.

Just above the two Carthusian brothers is a surprising sight: someone waving an Israeli flag and a Vatican flag bound together on one pole, with a little Palestinian flag on the top.

More nuns! (The others are in Thursday's post.  And for full coverage of this papal visit see all my posts here.)

Israeli TV televised live to the world every appearance of the Pope.
 (He was at 22 different sites in Israel in only 5 days.)
Two big screens let us see close-ups of the clergy near the altar.

A few viewers sat in olive trees, reminding me of the Zacchaeus story in Luke 19.

This is a freebie I missed. It must have been the Ministry of Tourism that gave the T shirts "I'm with the Pope in Jerusalem."
 For the Papal Mass yesterday the shirts said "I'm with the Pope in Nazareth."
 Whether the Palestinian Authority gave out anything to commemorate Wednesday's Mass in Bethlehem, I cannot know since I am not allowed into Bethlehem.

This cameraman from Pax TV, Lima, Peru, was directing the local kids.
 All were having fun.

Behind the long boom with the TV camera, you can see the Magnificat Choir.

Security personnel were everywhere, but in an unobtrusive manner.
These two men are police sappers.
Thank God that all went perfectly this week.

As the sun got lower and lower, the gold crosses on the Russian Orthodox Convent and Church of St. Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives began glowing with blinding light.
As if saying Shalom to the Catholic Pope below in the valley.
Symbolic of this blessed week of ecumenical  and interfaith dialogue.

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Here's looking at you

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Click on the photos and enlarge your viewing pleasure!

Pope Benedict XVI is our guest in Israel this week and everywhere he goes, the surveillance balloon floats above him.
Israel's biggest-ever security for a VIP was code-named by the police "Operation White Cloak."

Here the observation balloon hovers over the wall of Jerusalem's Old City as we gathered in the Kidron Valley.

These pictures above are for SkyWatch Friday. Welcome Skywatchers; if you would like to see the Pope himself, please see the previous two posts.

Some 6,000 managed to get invitations to the Pontifical Mass last Tuesday.

This is the booklet of the liturgy, in Latin and Arabic.

Seating on chairs was limited, only for the handicapped or for VIPs like high clergy and members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

The rest of us sat under, or even ON, the olive trees.

BYO--bring your own stool was preferred by the nuns pictured above and below.

If you're wondering why nuns (and almost everyone else) are wearing white baseball caps, it is because the Benedict souvenirs were freely distributed.
 A necessity in our hot bright sun.

These Benedictines were well grounded.

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If you are wondering where the monks are, please come back tomorrow.

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Getting there is half the fun

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My post of yesterday wanted to throw you right into the arena with the Christians.
 No no no, not with lions!
I mean, straight into the Pontifical Mass in Jerusalem.
But today it might be fun for you to come along and share the travails of just getting there, and getting in.
You know, like they say, "God is in the details."

So our first hurdle en route was a roadblock in central West Jerusalem.
 Pope Benedict was at a meeting nearby in the Great Synagogue with the two Chief Rabbis of Israel.
Everyone stood for 20 minutes until the Pope moved on and the police opened the road.

Please click and enlarge any photo to see those DETAILS.

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The way they block traffic is by parking the buses of the Pope's delegation in the middle of the street. Clever, eh?

This is Paris Square (with a gift fountain from France) at the intersection of Rambam (=Maimonides) and Ramban (=Nachmanides) Streets.

A good sign for us when the men in black who had been at the Pope's meeting emerged from Heichal Shlomo and waited for their bus driver to take them to the Pope's next stop (the Upper Room in the Old City).

We walked the several blocks to the Old City's New Gate.
It too was semi-closed by then.
I think the police let me through because I was with a nun bearing Mass tickets.
 We crossed the whole Old City and came out via St. Stephen's Gate on the east side.

This sign is probably from the Jerusalem Municipality.
 "In the Spirit of Unity and Peace" it proclaims, and "Jerusalem--something special for everyone!"

Here we are looking down at the "stage" that was built especially for the Mass.
The lovely setting among the olive trees [don't mind the graves] is the Kidron Valley, also known as the Valley of Josaphat (Yehoshafat).
To its right, the old wall of the Old City; to the left, the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane.
What could be better?!

The gates opened at 1:00.
The privileged Franciscans had an entrance all to themselves.
 After all, they are the Custodian of the Holy Land.
 But they were not spared the security check.

We, the hoi polloi, had to line up for a long time in the hot sun to wait our turn to put our bags through the X-ray machine and to walk through the metal detector.

Mercifully, hats like this beauty were passed out before any of us really passed out.

A line of ambulances was parked just behind, just in case.

As we reached the bottleneck where police officers and young security guards stood, the press of humanity was felt.
And how!
 Foreign pilgrims, local Arab Christians, men and women religious, and a very few Israeli Jews like me were all squished together.

This is "the holy grail," the limited edition (less than 6,000 available) invitation to the Solemn Pontifical Mass in the Holy City. Each one numbered.

Really, enlarge this photo.
See the round hologram sticker?
It is the papal emblem within a star of David!
Can you believe that??

The stamped Hebrew says "Israel Police" and the date.

The police checked our Identity Card and/or passport and carefully scanned the barcode sticker into their database.
As we used to say, half-laughing at the early German-Jewish immigrants to Israel, the Yekkes, "Ordnung muss sein."
One must have order.

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Then, suddenly we were inside and free, free to stand around or sit on the earth for three and a half hours until His Holiness the (German) Pope arrived and Mass began.

More about the fun we had while waiting in tomorrow's post, God willing.
 Hope to see you!
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Happy Pope, happy pilgrims

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Here comes Pope Benedict!
The Popemobile is coming down from the Mount of Olives to the Kidron Valley where Mass was celebrated this afternoon.

I was lucky to get a ticket. There was room for only about 6,000 in the outdoor place that was quickly created for this occasion.
 It was an experience never to be forgotten (and I'm not even Christian)!

Please click to enlarge the photos.

Trust me, the Pope is in there, behind the glass. You can see his nose and one eye between the two hands on the right, below the little Palestinian flag.

Benedict XVI has been in Israel since yesterday, and very busy; but today was the first time I've seen him smiling, waving, eyes shining, happy.
The crowd was cheering, and he was about to celebrate Mass--he was in his element.

The Mass was sung and read in Latin and Arabic.
The Pope's homily and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal's message were both in English.

Eucharist.

White umbrellas appeared in the crowd as a sign of where to go to receive Communion.

The Mass is ended. Pope Benedict goes in peace.

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UPDATE: Almost forgot what day it is. So to make this post suitable for Q day at ABC Wednesday, how about this Latin proverb? --
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur. Translation: "Anything said in Latin sounds profound."
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Habemus Papam!

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Habemus Papam--"We have a Pope!"
Pope Benedictus XVI just flew over my house in this Blackhawk helicopter!
Jerusalem will have the Pope for five very full days.

Pope Benedict made the 40-minute flight from Amman in a Royal Jordanian airliner, landing at Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv at 11:00.
The official state (i.e. military) welcoming ceremony went perfectly.
The band played the two national anthems.

I must say, I was very moved to see the head of the Catholic Church standing as Hatikva (The Hope) was played, here in the sovereign State of Israel.
We have all come a long way in the last century.
Thank God for progress in Christian-Jewish relations.
Thank God for an independent and strong Jewish state.
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President Peres welcomed His Holiness in Hebrew, English, and even a sentence in Latin.
The Pope made his good speech in English.
Lots of handshakes on the long red carpet.
Finally three helicopters took off for the 20-minute flight to Jerusalem.
However, just over my house the convoy split up.
It was announced that the Pope had asked for an extra little sivuv, wanting to see even more of the Holy City from above.
His entourage and the journalists proceeded directly to Mount Scopus.
On Mt. Scopus the Mayor of Jerusalem and 120 kids of the three faiths welcomed the Pope at 12:30.
Within 15 minutes the Pope was in the super-secure black Audi car, on the way to the Mount of Olives for a short rest at the Vatican Ambassador's place.
Welcome, Pope Baruch. As Mayor Barkat said, make yourself at home, feel at home, here in Jerusalem.
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That's My World Tuesday has other bloggers' current worlds on display. Check it out.

Moses, John Paul, and Benedict on Mt. Nebo

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Pope Benedict XVI arrived in the Kingdom of Jordan yesterday, the first stop on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land(s). This morning he is standing on Mount Nebo.
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This is where Moses, at the end of the 40 years of wandering in the desert, stood and looked longingly across to the Promised Land.

Deuteronomy 34:1-6 says
"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negev, and the Plain, that is, the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Tsoar. 
And the Lord said to him, 'This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, "I will give it to your descendants." I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.'
So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Bethpeor; but no man knows the place of his burial to this day." 

Once I wandered into Vatican territory--the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center. In a showcase were photos of the last papal visit in 2000.  
Please click to enlarge their photo of the previous Pope, John Paul II, and read the poetic and prophetic words he spoke on Mt. Nebo!
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The remarks made this morning by Pope Benedict at the ancient basilica on Mt. Nebo are already published here.
 He concluded with this wish:

"May our encounter today inspire in us a renewed love for the canon of Sacred Scripture and a desire to overcome all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual respect and cooperation in the service of that peace to which the word of God calls us!"
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