JOHN PAUL II ARRIVES IN "BLESSED LAND" OF ISRAEL

VATICAN CITY, MAR 21, 2000 (VIS) - Following a half-hour flight from Amman, Jordan, the Holy Father arrived at 5:30 this afternoon at the Ben Gourion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. He was greeted by members of the diplomatic corps, by civil authorities, including Israeli President Ezer Weizman, and by religious authorities including Greek-Melkite Archbishop Boutros Mouallem of Haifa, vice president of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, and patriarchs and bishops of the Holy Land and neighboring countries.

Tel Aviv-Jaffa is Israel's largest urban area and most important economic and cultural center. The greater metropolitan area, which numbers 1,142,000 inhabitants, almost a quarter of the total population of Israel, was born in 1950 from the union of the ancient port of Jaffa and the Jewish periphery called Tel Aviv (Hill of Spring). Jaffa goes back to the 15th century before Christ. Built on three hills, Tel Aviv today extends for 10 kilometers along the central Mediterranean coast of Israel.

"Yesterday, from the heights of Mount Nebo," said the Pope in his speech at the welcome ceremony, "I looked across the Jordan Valley to this blessed land. Today it is with profound emotion that I set foot in the land where God chose to 'pitch his tent', and made it possible for man to encounter Him more directly."

John Paul II affirmed that his visit "is both a personal pilgrimage and the spiritual journey of the Bishop of Rome to the origins of our faith in 'the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. It is part of a larger pilgrimage of prayer and thanksgiving which led me first to Sinai. ... Now I shall have the privilege of visiting some of the places more closely associated with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Then, turning to the matter of peace, the Holy Father said: "We all know how urgent is the need for peace and justice, not for Israel alone but for the entire region. Many things have changed in relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel since my prdecessor Pope Paul VI came here in 1964. The establishment of diplomatic relations between us in 1994 set a seal on efforts to open an era of dialogue on questions of common interest concerning religious freedom, relations between Church and State and, more generally, relations between Christians and Jews."

"Christians and Jews," he underscored, "must make courageous efforts to remove all forms of prejudice. We must strive always and everywhere to present the true face of the Jews and Judaism, as likewise of Christians and Christianity, and this at every level of attitude, teaching and communication."

"My journey therefore is a pilgrimage ... to the origins of our religious history," Pope John Paul II stressed. "It is a tribute to the three religious traditions which co-exist in this land.

Saying he looked forward to meeting "the Catholic communities in their rich variety" and the members of various Christian Churches and communities, the Holy Father concluded: "I pray that my visit here will serve to encourage an increase of inter-religious dialogue that will lead Jews, Christians and Muslims to seek in their respective beliefs, and in the universal brotherhood that unites all the members of the human family, the motivation and perseverance to work for the peace and justice which the peoples of the Holy Land do not yet have, and for which they yearn so deeply."

At 6:30 p.m., the Pope is scheduled to board a helicopter for the 25-minute flight to Jerusalem. He will stay at the apostolic delegation.

PV-ISRAEL;ARRIVAL; PEACE;...;TEL AVIV;VIS;20000321;Word: 600;