c. 2000 Religion News Service

AMMAN, Jordan _ Pope John Paul II began his long-anticipated pilgrimage to the Holy Land on Monday (March 20) with an appeal for the peaceful resolution of the “grave and urgent issues” of justice and the rights of peoples in the Middle East.

King Abdallah II, other members of the royal family and Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim leaders greeted the 79-year-old Catholic pontiff as he descended from his special Alitalia jetliner at Queen Alia International Airport.

The pope, who suffers the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease, walked slowly but without help down the red-carpeted landing stairs. He kissed a bowl of Jordanian soil as cannons boomed out a military salute and a white dove of peace rose into the cloudless sky.

In a brief address, John Paul said he had wanted since the beginning of his pontificate more than 22 years ago to commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Christ by making a spiritual pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

“From the beginning of my ministry as bishop of Rome, I have had a great desire to mark this event by praying in some of the places linked to salvation history _ places that speak to us of that moment’s long preparation through biblical times, places where our lord Jesus Christ actually lived or which are connected with his work of redemption,” he said.

Recalling that last month he visited Egypt and Mount Sinai where the Old Testament says God revealed his name to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments, the pope said, “Today I am in Jordan _ a land sanctified by the presence of Jesus himself, by the presence of Moses, Elijah and John the Baptist and of saints and martyrs of the early church.”

John Paul praised the concern of Jordan’s late King Hussein, of Abdallah and of all Jordanians, Muslims and Christians, for peace throughout the Middle East.

“In this area of the world there are grave and urgent issues of justice, of the rights of peoples and nations, which have to be resolved for the good of all concerned and as a condition for a lasting peace,” he said. “No matter how difficult, not matter how long, the process of seeking peace must continue.”

The pope, who spoke as Israeli and Palestinian officials prepared to resume negotiations in the United States, has long upheld the right of the Palestinian people to a homeland.

From Jordan, John Paul will travel Tuesday (March 21) to Israel and the Autonomous Palestinian Territories.

Jordan mounted maximum security for the papal visit although a cordial welcome was expected from Muslims as well as Christians. In Israel, however, Jewish extremists defaced a heliport prepared for the pope with swastikas, splashes of blood red paint and the slogan, “Pope out.”

The trip is the second lap on the pope’s spiritual pilgrimage to biblical sites to mark the start of the third millennium of Christianity. The Vatican said he also hopes to encourage ecumenical and interfaith dialogue and help to create a climate for peace in the Middle East as Israelis and Palestinians resume negotiations in the United States.

After the arrival ceremony at the airport, the pope will drive directly to the Memorial of Moses on Nebo from where the Bible recounts that Moses was allowed to see the Promised Land before his death.

John Paul will celebrate Mass on Tuesday morning in the Amman sports stadium. During the Mass, 2,000 children will receive their first communion and at its conclusion, the pope will bless three cornerstones for the construction of a Maronite and a Syrian Catholic church and a church center.

Mount Nebo was the last Old Testament site on the pope’s pilgrimage, which started last month with a visit to Egypt and Mount Sinai. In Israel and the Palestinian territories, he will trace the life of Jesus from the annunication to Mary that she would bear the son of God to the Last Supper on the eve of his crucifixion.

Although the pope wrote last June in a letter on his pilgrimage “in search of the footprints of God” that it would be entirely spiritual in nature, he cannot avoid some highly controversial political issues.

John Paul is expected to reassert his call for an independent Palestinian state when he visits a Palestinian refugee camp on Wednesday (March 23). Palestinians also seek his backing for a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, which Israel opposes.

The pope will face the issue of the silence of many Catholics during the Holocaust _ and the anger of Jewish leaders over plans to beatify the World War II Pope Pius XII _ when he visits the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on Thursday (March 24).

It was the first papal visit to the Holy Land since Pope Paul VI traveled there in 1964 when the West Bank and Jerusalem were under Jordanian control. John Paul made a pilgrimage there in 1965 as archbishop of the Polish city of Krakaw.

John Paul has spoken repeatedly of his desire to return as pope to the Holy Land, starting only two months after his election in 1978.

The trip is the 91st he has made outside of Italy since becoming pontiff and the 100th modern day papal trip.

DEA END POLK