The Pope’s visit

Following the coverage of the Pope’s whirlwind visit this past weekend, I was reminded of the classic tour guide joke about the writer who came to Israel for three days and then wrote a scholarly 600 page tome titled: “Israel: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” .

   Despite the media’s frenzied parsing and nitpicking about what Pope Francis did, and said, on both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides, what seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle of this visit is the fact that, as initially planned, it had absolutely nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
   The original reason for this trip was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between a Catholic Pope and an Eastern Orthodox Patriarch since the Great Schism of 1054. That historic and groundbreaking meeting took place on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem in January, 1964, between Pope Paul VI and Athenagoras, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. It significantly transformed relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.  
   The current Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, travelled to Rome last year for the inauguration of Pope Francis and suggested that they hold a ceremonial meeting in Jerusalem to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1964 meeting, and possibly advance the dialogue. The new Pope readily agreed and the trip was planned.
   But in the Middle East you can’t have a papal visit, no matter how short, without regional political and diplomatic components. 
   Mahmoud Abbas jumped on the opportunity to get massive media coverage of pro-Palestinian statements from a sympathetic and widely quoted world leader, and use the world media presence to continue his anti-Israel diatribe of “occupation”, “humiliation”, and “apartheid” while standing next to the Pope.
   Israel realized that in the inevitable media circus it had to counter every Palestinian move, especially in view of the current growing anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism worldwide trends (just look at the results of this week’s elections in Europe!).
   As for the Pope, he may have seen this as an opportunity to validate his choice of the Papal name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, one of the church’s greatest peace-makers, or maybe he caught a bit of the “Jerusalem Syndrome” bug. Otherwise it’s hard to understand why such an amiable 77 year old spiritual leader would want to get so directly involved in the Gordian knot of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
   Realizing that he had to tread on eggshells to maintain respect and credibility in trying to mediate in a conflict where none the key players are Christian, let alone Catholic, the Pope made a heroic effort to appease every-one. Let’s see what the reactions were at a few key points during his visit (I’ll use “Bibi” and “Abbas” to represent the Israeli and Palestinian reactions.

• Arrived by Jordanian military helicopter to Bethlehem. Abbas – delighted. Proves that Palestine is a sovereign state. Full Palestinian ceremonial state welcome. Bibi – annoyed. Refused to allow the Pope to travel the 15 minute ride by car to Jerusalem from Bethlehem. Jordanian chopper had to fly the papal entourage to Ben Gurion airport for the formal Israeli state ceremony.
• Impromptu stop at the barrier fence near Bethlehem, at one of the few places it’s a wall, for a major photo-op. Bibi – annoyed. Gives a distorted picture of the reality and life-saving need of the fence.
• Pope implied he was in the “State of Palestine” twice in a speech. Israel complained strongly and the Vatican later backtracked, but the damage was already done.
• Dined and sympathized with refugees who “were suffering terribly under Israeli occupation and oppression” (quoted in world media).  Bibi – a disingenuous distortion.
• Laid wreath at Herzl’s grave, confirming the legality of Zionism and the Jewish connection to Israel. Abbas – furious.
• Visited Yad Vashem, prayed in Memorial Hall where ashes are buried. Abbas – furious (has denied the Holocaust in the past).
• Visited monument dedicated to Israeli victims of Palestinian terror (this was an Israeli addition after the unscheduled barrier wall stop in Bethlehem). Abbas not happy.
• Prayed at the Western Wall and visited the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque– Everybody happy except Islamists, who are annoyed that he might have prayed silently at their holy shrine.

   At a meetings in Jerusalem Netanyahu mentioned that Jesus lived in Israel and that he spoke Hebrew. The pope, smiling, shot back “Aramaic”. Both were correct. While Aramaic was the official language in Israel under the Roman Empire in those days, the lower classes spoke Hebrew. Jesus would have communicated with the masses that followed him mostly in Hebrew.
   The meeting and joint prayer session between Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew took place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and by all accounts went well.
   This visit certainly had some very positive moments, and a few that could have been better prepared. The biggest faux pas came as a surprise right at the end, when Pope Francis extended an invitation to the presidents of Israel and the Palestinian authority, Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, to join him in the Vatican for a “prayer meeting” to discuss the Israeli Palestinian conflict. This is pointless at several levels. Shimon Peres holds a strictly ceremonial role as president with no official authority, and is ending his term of office within a few weeks. Abbas holds on to the formal title of president even though his term of office ended three years ago. He is being challenged both within his Fatah faction and the PLO.
   Does Pope Francis really believe that he will succeed where John Kerry and many seasoned diplomats and negotiators have failed?  I seriously don’t see it happening. But then again, this is Israel – the land of miracles.
   Agree or disagree, that’s my opinion.

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed above the writer’s, and do not represent SWJC directors, officers or members