Word: jerusalem
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Under a bright morning sky, Benedict took off his red papal slippers and entered the Dome of the Rock, the 7th century Jerusalem shrine built where Muslim tradition says the Prophet Muhammad began his ascent to heaven. From there, the Pope followed in John Paul II's footsteps, walking up to place a written prayer in the Western Wall, the remains from the Second Temple (built in the 1st century B.C.) that many say is the historic heart of Judaism. Later in the afternoon, the German Pontiff led a Mass in the ancient Kidron Valley just outside the Old City...
...encounter at the Dome of the Rock with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, the Pope said common principles bind Islam, Christianity and Judaism. "Those who honor the one God believe that he will hold human beings accountable for their actions," Benedict said. "Undivided love for the one God and charity for one's neighbor thus become the fulcrum around which all else turns. This is why we work untiringly to safeguard human hearts from hatred, anger or revenge." (Read TIME's cover story on the Pope's relations with Islam...
Another encounter on Monday also failed to go according to Vatican plans. An evening ceremony in East Jerusalem to champion inter-religious dialogue was interrupted by an unscheduled diatribe by Palestinian Muslim cleric Sheikh Tasir al-Tamimi, who condemned Israel's attacks on Palestinians and its control over Jerusalem's holy sites. The diminutive and elderly Pope appeared a bit shaken by the outburst, and the event was cut short as the Vatican delegation quickly left the meeting hall. Papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, who has been working overtime to react to events, called the Muslim cleric's actions...
Ever since the year 1204 A.D., when the soldiers of the Fourth Crusade sacked the Christian city of Constantinople instead of "liberating" Jerusalem from Muslim rule, Christians in the Middle East have been understandably wary of emissaries of Rome. Today, as Christians in the Middle East welcome Pope Benedict XVI on his first trip to the Holy Land, many are worried that the unpredictable Pontiff might stir up passions at a time of religious strife and political cold war. "The thing that worries me most is the speech that the Pope will deliver here," said Archbishop Fouad Twal, the Latin...
...time, they don't want the Pontiff's visit to gloss over their own troubles with the Israelis. Says George Said, a Bethlehem property dealer: "If the Pope continues to keep quiet about the suffering of Christians from Israelis, a day will come when the churches of Bethlehem and Jerusalem are turned into empty museums without a single Christian...