Samia Khoury wrote the article below for My Catbird Seat, under the headline, “The day I shook hands with Pope Francis I.” In the second half of her story, Khoury refers to an incident in Jerusalem that is purportedly documented at this site, and in the photos above. She gave us permission to publish. –Ed.
Sunday the 25th was a special day for us Palestinians and for me personally as I was one of those privileged to be invited to meet the Pope in Bethlehem. I was part of a delegation of five to hand him a letter on behalf of the indigenous Palestinian Christians. His schedule was so tight that there was no time for me to read it, but as I handed it to him I told him what it is about; what else but the story of our life under occupation. I seized the opportunity also to present him with my book Reflections from Palestine, a journey of hope as well as the petition initiated by FOSNA (Friends of Sabeel North America) regarding Palestinian children prisoners in Israeli jails.
Sister Celestine, of the order of St. Joseph and a retired teacher is a great admirer of the Pope. She made a symbolic card for him with flowers from Palestine which I inserted in my book. The cleaning woman who has been begging the church for a larger house for her family of five begged me to deliver a letter she had written to the Pope. So I did. It will take him some time to read all the different letters, petitions and messages that were handed to him, but I am sure he will eventually get to each one of them. He seemed the kind of man who would do that.
Ever since Pope Francis took office, he broke so many of the traditions, most important of all was abandoning the official residence and moving into a humble residence. He even broke the dress code and abandoned the red shoes. He seemed so humble and compassionate, and his warm and sweet smile as I shook hands with him almost inspired me to give him a hug.
During the mass in Manger Square I was fortunate to have a seat on the second row in the middle which was exactly opposite the alter. It was an awesome feeling to be attending a live mass officiated by the Pope. Just as he was giving the blessing at the end of the service the call to prayer from the minaret next to the church of Nativity was raised. It had such a symbolic meaning as the words Allahu Akbar (God is great) came through the loud speaker while the worshipers were making the sign of the cross. It was more meaningful than ever as Israel continues to pass rules to exclude the Christians from the Palestinian community.
The visit to Bethlehem was very well organized, and went without a hitch. The municipality with a lady mayor and the committee in charge as well as the protocol people and security are all to be commended on a great job. And with such a humble Pope the atmosphere was very relaxed.
Unfortunately the people in Jerusalem were not privileged to be on the streets to welcome the Pope. The Israeli Police closed all the roads that led to the areas which he was going to visit, and turned the city into a ghost town.
Yet some of the young people of the Christian community were determined to challenge that and made arrangements with the Patriarchate to have presence on the way to the Holy Sepulcher where the Pope was going to meet the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. But the Israeli police deprived them even of that privilege, and there was a rough encounter whereby many of them got beaten up and thrown on the street.
The Pope heard about it through an SOS letter that was delivered to him, so during the evening service at the Gethsemane he added the following prayer:
”I wish to extend my heartfelt greetings to all Christians in Jerusalem: I would like to assure them that I remember them affectionately and that I pray for them, being well aware of the difficulties they experience in this city. I urge them to be courageous witnesses of the passion of the Lord but also of his resurrection, with joy and hope.“
The following is a link for a very nice and descriptive article by Daoud Kuttab about the Pope’s visit to Bethlehem which includes a photo of his visit to the Wall. I think that unplanned visit helped balance all the controversy about his visit to some of the Israeli sites. I hope you will enjoy reading it.
Netanyahu, Pissed at the Pope for Praying at the Apartheid Wall, Attempts to Humiliate Francis. Twice.
I guess this should dispel any/all claims that Israel treats Christians so very well, and that it is a real ‘democracy’.
It shows, once more, that it does not respect any religion but Judaism. Sad.
The Pope on the fence: http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/05/29/the-fence-sitting-pope/