9 Dicembre 2009 -11 :14 pagina 535 e : /0693_9 /Lavoro /Acta_Giugno_9.3d GRECCO

describes in his Letter to the Romans how the Church of the Gentiles is like a

wild olive shoot, grafted onto the cultivated olive tree which is the People of

the Covenant.1 We are nourished from the same spiritual roots. We meet as

brothers, brothers who at times in our history have had a tense relationship,

but now are firmly committed to building bridges of lasting friendship.

The ceremony at the Presidential Palace was followed by one of the most

solemn moments of my stay in Israel - my visit to the Holocaust Memorial

at Yad Vashem, to pay my respects to the victims of the Shoah. There also I

met some of the survivors. Those deeply moving encounters brought back

memories of my visit three years ago to the death camp at Auschwitz, where

so many Jews - mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, bro-

thers, sisters, friends - were brutally exterminated under a godless regime

that propagated an ideology of anti-Semitism and hatred. That appalling

chapter of history must never be forgotten or denied. On the contrary, those

dark memories should strengthen our determination to draw closer to one

another as branches of the same olive tree, nourished from the same roots and

united in brotherly love.

Mr President, I thank you for the warmth of your hospitality, which is

greatly appreciated, and I wish to put on record that I came to visit this

country as a friend of the Israelis, just as I am a friend of the Palestinian

people. Friends enjoy spending time in one another's company, and they find

it deeply distressing to see one another suffer. No friend of the Israelis and

the Palestinians can fail to be saddened by the continuing tension between

your two peoples. No friend can fail to weep at the suffering and loss of life

that both peoples have endured over the last six decades. Allow me to make

this appeal to all the people of these lands: No more bloodshed! No more

fighting! No more terrorism! No more war! Instead let us break the vicious

circle of violence. Let there be lasting peace based on justice, let there be

genuine reconciliation and healing. Let it be universally recognized that the

State of Israel has the right to exist, and to enjoy peace and security within

internationally agreed borders. Let it be likewise acknowledged that the

Palestinian people have a right to a sovereign independent homeland, to live

with dignity and to travel freely. Let the two-state solution become a reality,

not remain a dream. And let peace spread outwards from these lands, let

them serve as a "light to the nations",2 bringing hope to the many other

regions that are affected by conflict.

Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 535

2 Is 42:6.