Pope John Paul II declared that his visit to Israel and the Middle East was a spiritual journey. The pontiff wanted to fulfill a long cherished dream and walk in the footsteps of Christ, 2,000 years after his birth. The pope did just that, with trips to the site of Christ's birth, baptism and the Sea of Galilee where he began his ministry. Unfortunately, Pope John Paul II also stepped into political controversy upon his arrival. If the visit was spiritually invigorating, it was also frustrating, as politics overshadowed the pontiff's message of reconciliation.
The trip was laden with symbolism. It marked the first official visit of a pope to Israel; relations with the Jewish country only began in 1993. A predecessor, Pope Paul VI, made a brief stopover in 1964, but he stayed for only 30 minutes and never mentioned the word "Israel."
Pope John Paul II has made interfaith reconciliation a priority in his papacy. Reaching out to the Jews has been especially pressing given lingering suspicion over antisemitism within the Catholic Church and accusations that the Vatican did not do all that it could to prevent the slaughter of Jews during the Holocaust. The pope, who witnessed the Holocaust as a seminarian in Poland, went to the heart of that sensitive issue during his visit to the Yad Vashem memorial to the victims of the Nazis. In his speech, the pontiff expressed sadness at the "hatred, acts of persecution and antisemitism" directed against Jews by Christians. The comments fell short of the apology some had sought, but his words moved all who heard them. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak hailed the pope's "noble act" and expressed his gratitude for all the pontiff's efforts to bridge the gulf between the two faiths.