| Western Wall Prayer
March 26, 2000 |
|
| Western Wall Prayer
March 26, 2000 |
|
| During
his visit to the Western Wall, John Paul II observed the custom of
inserting a short prayer into a nook in the wall. This is the text of
that signed and stamped prayer, which has been preserved at Yad Vashem.
|
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God of our fathers, you chose Abraham and his descendants to bring Your name to the nations: we are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of Yours to suffer and asking Your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant Jerusalem, 26 March 2000. Joannnes Paulus II |
MINISTER MELCHIOR'S SPEECH TO POPE JOHN PAUL II AT
WESTERN WALL
This is Minister for Israeli Society and Jewish Communities, Rabbi Michael
Melchior's speech welcoming Pope John Paul II to the Western Wall in Jerusalem
on Sunday, March 26, 2000:
Your Honor, the Pope:
Thousands of years of history are looking down on us from atop this sacred mount
and from amidst the stones of this remnant of our holy Temple. And they see you
here.
Thrice daily, for thousands of years, Jews have prayed toward this place from
North, South, East and West-indeed from every corner of the globe. We have never
stopped praying. We have never stopped yearning: "May our eyes behold God's
merciful return to Zion".
In the torturous dungeons of the Inquisition, while awaiting the hangman's
noose, when cramped in cattle cars bound for Auschwitz, Treblinka or Maidanek,
and in the heat of battle defending our State, Jews have longed for and prayed
toward this holy place.
According to our tradition, "God's presence has never budged from this
Western Wall". This place demonstrates in the most concrete way the
never-ending bond between the Creator of the World and the Jewish people. So it
was then, so it is today when we - through His Grace - have returned to our
eternal homeland and capital.
We welcome your coming here as the realization of a commitment of the Catholic
Church to end the era of hatred, humiliation, and persecution of the Jewish
people.
In the name of the Government of Israel and the Jewish People, we stand here
today to call out in the loudest and clearest of voices: "No longer
!!"
No longer may we pervert the sublime values of religion, to justify war. No
longer may we call God's name, as we strike down those created in His image.
We say: "No longer !" For today begins a new era, in which we all lift
our eyes to the heavens and commit ourselves to search every ancient path and to
pave bold, new highways that will bring peace to all religions and to all
believers-Jews, Christians, and Moslems, alike. A new era, in which Faith in God
will be the symbol of: peace and brotherhood among nations, justice, and concern
for the suffering of every one of His creatures.
No longer. For today we commit ourselves to end the manipulation of the sanctity
of Jerusalem for political gain. Jerusalem must reject hatred, struggle, and
bloodshed, and be again the "City of Peace" and a source of holiness.
In response to your call to advance the cause of a religious peace, I am honored
to announce my intention to begin work immediately towards the establishment of
an inter-religious forum to which will be invited representatives of the three
great monotheistic faiths in order to promote peace among religions in this
sacred land, in this region, and all over the world.
Let us do our utmost to realize the Prophet Isaiah's song of peace:
"And I shall bring them to my holy mountain, and cause them to rejoice in
my house of prayer. Their offerings and sacrifices will be welcome on my altar;
for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples." [Isaiah,
56:7]
The sanctity of Jerusalem is uplifting. It compels us to rise above what divides
us, and provides us with the inspiration and vision to join in finding a way
that will bring us all: "life, and not death; blessing, and not
affliction".
We welcome your coming here in peace, and we wish you blessing and peace as you
depart.
"May He who makes peace in the heavens, make peace on us and for all
Israel. And let us say, 'Amen.'"
___________________________________________________________
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Following is the dedication on a Bible that Minister Rabbi Melchior presented to the Pope John Paul II: |
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"Pope John Paul II, From Jerusalem to Rome, accept this, the Jewish
People's Book of Books, as a token of our admiration and respect for your
efforts on behalf of peace and brotherhood among the peoples of the world. May we all live to see the fulfillment of the prophetic vision that "… many peoples shall go and shall say: "Come, Let us go up to the Mount of the Lord, To the House of the God of Jacob; That He may instruct us in His ways, And that we may walk in His paths. For instruction shall come forth from Zion, The word of the Lord from Jerusalem." [Isaiah 2:3] |
