Pope Francis delivered remarks to the Presidents of Palestine and Israel, Mahmoud Abbas and Shimon Peres, along with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and delegations representing Jews, Christians and Muslims, all of whom were gathered in the Vatican Pentecost Sunday evening to pray for peace in the Middle East and throughout the world. ...read more

Pray for peace in the Holy Land with Pope Francis By Oscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB June 4 2014 Pope Francis has invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the Vatican to pray for peace in the Holy Land this Pentecost Sunday. On his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the Pope said,  “All of us ...read more

Pope Francis blesses a Palestinian journalist aboard the papal plane on his flight to Amman, Jordan, May 24, the start of his three-day visit to the Holy Land. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)   The Holy Father is welcomed by Jordan’s Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal after arrival at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman May 24. ...read more

  Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis Mass with Ordinaries of the Holy Land Upper Room, Jerusalem, 26 May 2014 Dear Brothers, It is a great gift that the Lord has given us by bringing us together here in the Upper Room for the celebration of the Eucharist.  Here, where Jesus shared the Last Supper ...read more

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis Visit to the Memorial of Yad Vashem Jerusalem, 26 May 2014 “Adam, where are you?” (cf. Gen 3:9). Where are you, o man? What have you come to? In this place, this memorial of the Shoah, we hear God’s question echo once more: “Adam, where are you?” This question ...read more

Address of His Holiness Pope FrancisEcumenical Celebration in the Basilica of the Holy SepulchreJerusalem, 25 May 2014 In this Basilica, which all Christians regard with the deepest veneration, my pilgrimage in the company of my beloved brother in Christ, His Holiness Bartholomaios, now reaches its culmination.  We are making this pilgrimage in the footsteps of ...read more

Holy Sepulchre, May 25, 2014 “Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matt. 28.5-6) Your Holiness and dearly beloved brother in Christ, Your Beatitude Patriarch of the Holy City of ...read more

Like our venerable predecessors Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras who met here in Jerusalem fifty years ago, we too, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, were determined to meet in the Holy Land “where our common Redeemer, Christ our Lord, lived, taught, died, rose again, and ascended into Heaven, whence he sent the Holy ...read more

Bethlehem, 25 May 2014 “This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:12). What a great grace it is to celebrate the Eucharist in the place where Jesus was born! I thank God and I thank all of you who have ...read more

Mr President,  Dear Friends,  I thank President Mahmoud Abbas for his kind welcome and I offer cordial greetings to the representatives of the government and the entire Palestinian people.  I thank the Lord for the opportunity to be here with you today in the birthplace of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.  I thank all of ...read more