ISRAEL: Pilgrims flock to Jesus's boyhood hometown in Nazareth for mass led by Pope Benedict

Record ID: 396341

  • Title: ISRAEL: Pilgrims flock to Jesus's boyhood hometown in Nazareth for mass led by Pope Benedict
  • Date: 15th May 2009
  • Summary: NAZARETH, ISRAEL (MAY 14, 2009) (REUTERS) CROWDS GATHERING FOR MASS WIDE OF STAGE AT AMPHITHEATRE WHERE MASS WILL TAKE PLACE BAND PLAYING BAGPIPES ARRIVING VARIOUS OF CROWDS GATHERING, MANY WAVING FLAGS NUNS SINGING, ONE PLAYING DRUM VARIOUS OF NUNS SINGING
  • Embargoed: 30th May 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA43CIZ238VE3V6XG68KYYJZ4HV
  • Story Text: Pilgrims flocked on Thursday (May 14) to Nazareth in the heartland of Israel's minority Arab population for Pope Benedict's visit on the fourth day of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
    The Pontiff is due to celebrate an open-air mass during the visit which is expected to draw the largest turnout of his tour of a site where the Bible says an angry mob tried to hurl Jesus off a cliff.
    Christians from across the region and around the world gathered at a large outdoor amphitheatre to attend the event.

    "We are very happy that the pope come here to the Holy Land, especially to Nazareth. It's the first city for the Christian people in the Middle East, and it gives us power to stay here and not to emigrate - to leave our country to the west. It's very important for us, this especially,"
    Elias Nakhoul, a Christian from the Galilee region of Israel said.

    "The Pope visiting the Holy Land is a symbol that Christianity will remain in this land together with hand in hand with the Jews and with Islam. And especially today here in Nazareth, it's also a sign that we can co-operate and build a beautiful society here in this beautiful city after a long history, and sometimes unfortunately a history of violence and maybe a history of hatred - one toward each other," said Yousef Yakob, from Haifa.
    A separate mass will be held at a church built at the spot where Christians believe Jesus's impending birth was announced to his mother, Mary.
    Some 1.5 million Israelis, about a fifth of the population, are Arabs, 10 percent of whom are Christian.
    Most Israeli Arab citizens are descended from Palestinian Arabs who remained while hundreds of thousands of others fled or were driven out during fighting over Israel's founding in 1948. Nazareth is home to one of the largest populations of Israeli Arabs.
    Pope Benedict completes his pilgrimage on Friday in Jerusalem with a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, and the location of the tomb where he was buried.
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