The Custody of the Holy Land, the heads of the Churches of Jerusalem, diplomats, faithful and pilgrims flocked to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher to gather in prayer for the Holy Father.

The Mass in suffrage of Pope Francis was celebrated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa in the presence of numerous institutional figures, as well as the heads of the Oriental Churches who, through their participation, expressed their vicinity to the Church of Rome and the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.

The presence of faithful from the West Bank, who wanted to be present and near, despite the difficulties, to the Pope, is also to be emphasized.

The pilgrimage to the Holy Land

“The Holy Land is the quintessence of the Gospel, it is the Gospel which has become stone, dust, light and water”, the Pope had said at a general audience on his return from the pilgrimage to the Holy Land. With these words, he stressed not only the historic but also the spiritual importance of those places, exhorting the world not to forget their universal value and to work for peace, justice and reconciliation.

During his visit, the gestures of Francis spoke more than words: he prayed at the Wailing Wall, visited the Esplanade of the Mosques and the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre together with the heads of the Oriental Churches, making an appeal for interreligious dialogue and fraternity between peoples.  “In this land, the path to peace inevitably passes through fraternity and mutual respect”, he said in his speech to the Israeli President and his Palestinian counterpart, during the historic prayer meeting in the Vatican Gardens.

Custos' remembrance

The homily by the Custos of the Holy Land, Fra Francesco Patton, opened with an affectionate reference to the most intimate and frequent words of the Holy Father: “And please remember to pray for me.” This simple request incorporated all his profound humility and the desire to be supported by the people of God.

In this period of mourning and prayer, the celebration of the Eucharist was also an act of Easter hope. The empty tomb of Jerusalem, from which “the shocking announcement reaches us: Jesus, who was Crucified, “is not here, he is risen”" (Luke 24,6), becomes a symbol of the victory of life and love over hatred and darkness, as Pope Francis himself had written in his last “Urbo et Orbi” message.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

During his pontificate, Pope Francis embodied with strength and tenderness the centrality of the risen Christ, emphasizing that the true guide is not the papal figure in himself but “Christ himself... at the centre of our thoughts, of our affections, of our decisions and our actions”.

With the Holy Land to the end

Particular thanks were made to his constant attention for the Holy Land: “He carried us in his heart until the last day... He shouted invoking peace for us until his last breath”. The Pope had spoken with profound empathy of the sorrow experiences in Israel, Palestine and Gaza, exhorting a ceasefire  and an end to hatred, denouncing anti-Semitism and every form of injustice.

“I would like us to renew our hope that peace is possible!  From the Holy Sepulcher, the Church of the Resurrection, where this year Easter is celebrated by Catholics and Orthodox on the same day, may the light of peace radiate throughout the Holy Land and the entire world. I express my closeness to the sufferings of Christians in Palestine and Israel, and to all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people.”

“No peace is possible where there is no religious freedom … nor is peace is possible without real disarmament!”

Lastly, he closed the homily with a powerful image, which brings together faith and hope: the empty tomb. It is a sign of the resurrection and of the certainty that death is not the end, as it emerges from the words of Pope Francis: “In the Lord’s Paschal Mystery, death and life contended in a stupendous struggle, but the Lord now lives forever. He fills us with the certainty that we too are called to share in the life that knows no end, when the clash of arms and the rumble of death will be heard no more. Let us entrust ourselves to him, for he alone can make all things new!”