[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

The Pope said: "One of the saddest sights for me during my visit to these
lands was the wall. As I passed alongside it, I prayed for
a future in which the peoples of the Holy Land can live together in peace
and harmony without the need for such
instruments of security and separation"

= he recognizes that right now the fence is "needed" security instrument.]

HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE
EMBARGO
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28
TEL AVIV - 15.05.2009
Ben Gurion International Airport
Farewell ceremony
Original text

Mr President,
Mr Prime Minister,
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As I prepare to return to Rome, may I share with you some of the powerful
impressions that my pilgrimage to the
Holy Land has left with me. I had fruitful discussions with the civil
authorities both in Israel and in the Palestinian
Territories, and I witnessed the great efforts that both governments are
making to secure people's well-being. I have met
the leaders of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, and I rejoice to see
the way that they work together in caring for the
Lord's flock. I have also had the opportunity to meet the leaders of the
various Christian Churches and ecclesial
communities as well as the leaders of other religions in the Holy Land. This
land is indeed a fertile ground for ecumenism
and inter-religious dialogue, and I pray that the rich variety of religious
witness in the region will bear fruit in a growing
mutual understanding and respect.

Mr President, you and I planted an olive tree at your residence on the day
that I arrived in Israel. The olive tree,
as you know, is an image used by Saint Paul to describe the very close
relations between Christians and Jews. Paul 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 (cf. 11:17-24). 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, where I met some of the
survivors who suffered the evils of the Shoah.
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, brothers, 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" (Is 42:6), bringing hope
to the many other regions that are affected by conflict.

One of the saddest sights for me during my visit to these lands was the
wall. As I passed alongside it, I prayed for
a future in which the peoples of the Holy Land can live together in peace
and harmony without the need for such
instruments of security and separation, but rather respecting and trusting
one another, and renouncing all forms of violence
and aggression. Mr President, I know how hard it will be to achieve that
goal. I know how difficult is your task, and that
of the Palestinian Authority. But I assure you that my prayers and the
prayers of Catholics across the world are with you
as you continue your efforts to build a just and lasting peace in this
region.

It remains only for me to express my heartfelt thanks to all who have
contributed in so many ways to my visit. To
the Government, the organizers, the volunteers, the media, to all who have
provided hospitality to me and those
accompanying me, I am deeply grateful. Please be assured that you are
remembered with affection in my prayers. To all
of you, I say: thank you, and may God be with you. Shalom!
________________________