Here we provide all the speeches delivered by Pope Francis during his pilgrimage in the Holy Land.
From the Mass in Amman, where the Holy Father affirmed “Peace is not something which can be bought or sold; peace is a gift to be sought patiently and to be “crafted” through the actions, great and small, of our everyday lives”, to the meeting with the Syrian refugees: “we are profoundly affected by the tragedies and suffering of our times, particularly those caused by ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. I think particularly of our beloved Syria, rent by nearly three years of civil strife which has led to countless deaths and forced millions to flee and seek exile in other countries. All of us want peace!”.
From the meeting with the Palestinian authorities in Bethlehem, whom the Pope has encouraged by saying “The time has come for everyone to find the courage to be generous and creative in the service of the common good”, to the Mass at Manger’s Square, where Pope Francis talked about children and the importance for all families and all societies of taking care of their children. Like Jesus the Child, “Today too, children are a sign. They are a sign of hope, a sign of life, but also a “diagnostic” sign, a marker indicating the health of families, society and the entire world “.
Regarding children, again, the words addressed to the children of the refugee camps in Bethlehem, the speeches delivered to the Israeli authorities in Tel Aviv, and the amazing ecumenical encounter at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, together with the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I.
Furthermore, at the memorial of the Holocaust the Holy Father has pronounced a prayer of mercy for the atrocities committed by mankind “Today, in this place, we hear once more the voice of God: “Adam, where are you?””.
During his meeting with the Israeli President, Pope Francis declared “The Holy Places are not monuments or museums for tourists, but places where communities of believers daily express their faith and culture, and carry out their works of charity. Precisely for this reason, their sacred character must be perpetually maintained and protection given not only to the legacy of the past but also to all those who visit these sites today and to those who will visit them in the future. May Jerusalem be truly the City of Peace!”
At last, the speeches delivered at the Gethsemane, during a meeting with the priests, religious people and seminarians and the Homily pronounced during the Mass at the Cenacle, together with the Ordinaries of the Holy Land, where Pope Francis said “The Upper Room reminds us of sharing, fraternity, harmony and peace among ourselves. How much love and goodness has flowed from the Upper Room! How much charity has gone forth from here, like a river from its source, beginning as a stream and then expanding and becoming a great torrent”.
