Jerusalem Mayor to Discuss Year 2000 Visit with Pope -- 03/23/1999

Jerusalem Mayor to Discuss Year 2000 Visit with Pope

23 March, 1999

By Patrick Goodenough
CNS Jerusalem Bureau Chief

JERUSALEM (CNS) - The Vatican has invited Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert to visit Pope John Paul later this year to discuss the pontiff's plans to visit the city and the Holy Land in the year 2000.

A spokesperson for the mayor's office, Jo-Ann Malka, told CNS Tuesday the invitation had been delivered during a meeting between Olmert and Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, the Vatican's official in charge of preparations for millennial celebrations.

Confirmation of the pope's plans to visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority areas in a year's time came from Israel's Tourism Ministry, following a meeting between Etchegaray and Tourism Minister Moshe Katsav.

Ministry spokeswoman Orly Doron predicted that once the actual date for the visit was announced, this would prompt millions of Roman Catholics to make pilgrimage.

The pope is likely to include Jerusalem, Nazareth and the PA-controlled town of Bethlehem in his itinerary.

Etchegaray told reporters after meeting Katsav that "the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 is the celebration of the birth of Christ and of His life here in this land. It is more than normal that the pope come here."

It will be the first papal visit since Israel captured Jordanian-ruled eastern Jerusalem in 1967, reuniting the city as its capital.

Along with most of the international community, the Vatican does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the city, but its willingness to liaise with the Israeli mayor in planning the visit indicates an acknowledgement of the realities on the ground.

The likeliest date for the visit will be around March 25, when the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation – the Angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary that she would bear Jesus.

The Vatican's Jubilee 2000 Internet website marks that day with the words "Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, Nazareth Basilica of the Annunciation", a reference to the church in Nazareth traditionally associated with the angelic visit.

Both Israel and the PA have repeatedly invited the pope to visit during 2000, for economic as much as for political reasons.

Millions of dollars in public and private sector investment have been poured into preparations for the anticipated huge influx of Christian visitors marking the millennium.

Church officials have expressed concern that both sides will try to exploit the visit in their bitter political dispute over Jerusalem's status.

During Etchegaray's talks with Katsav, the two discussed the possibility of opening an additional exit to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, one of two traditional locations of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

Officials fear the enormously popular shrine will not accommodate the expected number of pilgrims wanting to visit.

However, several church denominations share responsibility for the Holy Sepulcher – often bickering in the process – and attempts to alter a carefully-negotiated status quo in force for more than a century are fraught with difficulties.

Last month, tourism director-general Shabtai Shai said Israel was optimistic it could accommodate up to 4.5 million Christian visitors during the millennium year, although there could be bottlenecks around specific dates, such as Easter and Christmas.

The last pope to visit the Holy Land was Paul VI, in 1964.

Besides the planned visit to Israel, Pope John Paul has long expressed a desire to mark the turn of the millennium with an unprecedented event on Mount Sinai, involving Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders coming together in a gesture of reconciliation.

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