October 02/2015

Papal Visit in Philadelphia

This week, just a few weeks after my arrival to Philadelphia, I had the chance to feel the excitement and the special vibe of the city, as it was getting ready for the Papal visit. In advance of the visit,  it was the subject of much discussion and nervous anticipation.  Visit stories were all over the local and national news. Philadelphia was filled with signs greeting Pope Francis  and the enthusiastic visitors to the World Meeting of Families. The price for all the excitement was of course road blocks which made my commute to work, which usually is about a 10 minute drive, longer and longer every day as we gotcloser to the visit (40 minutes at the maximum).

As we anticipated, it was a great visit. The photos from the Papal mass on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, with hundreds of thousands of people, are unforgettable.  Before coming to Philadelphia, the Pope visited the ground zero memorial in New York, Francis selected Ground Zero as the place in the United States he wanted to have an interfaith gathering. Representatives from a diverse mix of world religions were represented at the service including Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Jews. During the service Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of Judaism’s largest denomination, the Reform movement, said:

“To be able, on that spot, to have a service with interfaith leaders, and this Pope, to try and figure out: How do we craft a world where religion is the glue that holds our moral fiber together — not this  battering ram of ideology and ethnocentrism and hatred.” 

Pope Francis also added: 

"This place of death became a place of life, too, a place of saved lives, a hymn to the triumph of life over the prophets of
destruction and death, to goodness over evil, to reconciliation and unity over hatred and division." 

Pope Francis came to the United States bringing a message of hope, of unity among all peoples of the world, and of peace.

Israel has also experienced terror attacks since the day it was founded. We still believe in choosing life and peace over hatred and violence. During the last weeks, violence was spread across the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In a city which is holy for Jews, Muslims and Christians, Israel sees a huge significance in maintaining the status quo, which allows people, all people, to pray. On the other side of Israel’s effort for peace and unity in the holy city, we can see the incitement, which comes from the Muslim Brotherhood, from Hamas, and – with the active participation of the Palestinian Authority. This incitement only brings more violence. It hurts the people who want to pray in the Temple Mount, Jews or Muslims. We should stop the incitement, stop the violence and let the peace return to the holiest city.


Shabbat Shalom,

Moran Birman, Deputy Consul General