Pope John Paul II returned to Rome last night having successfully negotiated what was potentially the most difficult day of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He visited Jerusalem's Muslim leader, Grand Mufti Ikrema Sabri, at the Dome of the Rock mosque in the Old City yesterday morning.
On Saturday, the Grand Mufti, who was appointed by the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, had said that Israel had exaggerated the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust "to get sympathy world-wide". He did not attend the inter-faith meeting with the Pope last Thursday as the Supreme Islamic Council has banned contact with Israel's Jewish leaders because of Israel's occupation of Arab east Jerusalem.
During the courtesy visit yesterday, he asked for Pope John Paul's assistance in ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Afterwards, the Pope visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism's holiest shrine, often known as "the Wailing Wall", a remnant of the ancient Temple. There he was told by Rabbi Michel Melhior, Israel's Minister for Social and Diaspora Affairs, that "in the tortuous dungeons of the Inquisition, while awaiting the hangman's noose, when cramped in cattle cars bound for Auschwitz, Treblinka, or Maidanek, and in the heat of battle defending our state, Jews have longed for and prayed towards this place."
He welcomed the Pope's presence "as the realisation of a commitment of the Catholic Church to end the era of hatred, humiliation, and persecution of the Jewish people", and he announced that in response to the Pope's call he was setting about the immediate establishment of an inter-religious forum involving representatives of the three great monotheistic faiths.
Then, in one of his most dramatic gestures towards the Jewish people, Pope John Paul prayed at the wall and, as is traditional with the Jews, placed his prayer in a crevice in the wall. It read: "God of our fathers, you chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your Name to the Nations: we are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant,"
The prayer was later removed and taken to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial hall where it is to be put on permanent display.
What followed was the most remarkable coming together of Christian denominations in that great symbol of Christian disunity, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians believe Jesus was buried and rose from the dead. It has been shared uneasily for centuries by six churches: the Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Roman Catholic, Coptic, Syrian, and Ethiopian Churches.
Such has been the distrust between the Christians that the church's key has been held traditionally by a Muslim family, which lives nearby. Agreement to allow Pope John Paul say Mass there yesterday, outside normal Roman Catholic time - 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. - had to be negotiated.
Representatives of all six churches attended the Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul yesterday, along with representatives of the Anglican and Lutheran Churches. He urged all "to renew their obedience to the Lord's command to take the Gospel to all the ends of the earth", and he spoke of the great need at the beginning of the third millennium "to proclaim from the rooftops the Good News".
He finished on what many felt was a valedictory note, marking not just the end of the last homily of his pilgrimage or the end of the pilgrimage itself, but possibly the coming to a close of his papacy. "Today, as the unworthy successor of Peter, I wish to repeat these words as we celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice in this, the most hallowed place on earth. With all of redeemed humanity, I make my own the words which Peter the Fisherman spoke to Christ, the Son of the living God: `Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life'."
Later in the afternoon, in an unscheduled addition to his itinerary, Pope John Paul returned to the church for private prayer. Earlier, he had kissed the tomb and the spot where the body of Jesus is believed to have lain as it was prepared for burial.
In Nazareth on Saturday, the Pope said Mass at the Basilica of the Annunciation. Expectations that the visit might be marred by protests from local Muslims, whose plans to build a mosque near the Basilica are opposed by the Vatican, proved unfounded.
On Saturday evening, Pope John Paul paid a private visit to the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem and attended an ecumenical meeting with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Diodoros I, and other heads of Christian communities in the city. Pope John Paul described disunity among Christians as "scandalous", and emphasised that co-operation among Christians was especially important in Jerusalem.