BETHLEHEM (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass on March 22 in the basilica built upon the spot in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.
The Pope, arriving in Bethlehem after a short helicopter ride from Jerusalem, went to the Nativity Basilica in Manger Square. That ancient church-- which faces a small mosque on the opposite side of the square-- is maintained by Latin-rite Catholics, Greek Orthodox, and Armenian Orthodox clergy.
«Bethlehem is at the center of my Jubilee pilgrimage,» the Pope commented during his homily. This is the place, he observed, where «the eternal entered into history, to remain with us forever.»
The birth of Jesus was not a manifestation of earthly power, the Holy Father remarked. On the contrary, the Lord was born amidst poverty and neglect; his kingdom was not to be an earthly kingdom but a victory of good over evil, «the definitive victory over sin and death.» And that victory, he continued, can «transform our weak nature and make us capable of living in peace with one another and in communion with God.»
As he concluded his homily, the Pope encouraged the Christians who live in Bethlehem-- a dwindling minority in a predominantly Muslim town-- to «preserve your presence and your Christian patrimony, in this place where our Savior was born.»
After the Mass, the Pope had lunch at a nearby Franciscan residence for pilgrims. He returned to the basilica in the afternoon, to go to the grotto beneath the altar that marks the spot where Jesus was born.
Catholic World News Service - Vatican Update