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Popes In The Holy Land: After 2,000 Years, A New Tradition

Pope Paul VI is greeted by a cheering crowd in Jerusalem's Old City on Jan. 4, 1964. Despite the city's central role in Christianity, Paul VI was the first pope to visit Jerusalem. AP hide caption

Pope Paul VI is greeted by a cheering crowd in Jerusalem's Old City on Jan. 4, 1964. Despite the city's central role in Christianity, Paul VI was the first pope to visit Jerusalem.

Pop quiz: How many popes have visited Jerusalem over the past 2,000 years?

What papal destination could be more natural than the Holy Land, where the pontiff can walk Jerusalem's stone streets and follow the footsteps of Jesus. Popes have dispatched envoys, emissaries and even Crusader armies to claim the territory for the Catholic Church. And from the Vatican, it's just a short hop across the Mediterranean.

So Pope Francis must be joining a long list of predecessors when he arrives Saturday for a three-day visit in the region, including Monday in Jerusalem.

Well, not exactly. No pope ever traveled to Jerusalem until Paul VI spent one day in the city, on Jan. 4, 1964.

That pilgrimage also marked the first time a reigning pontiff had ever been on an airplane. Equally remarkable, Paul VI was the first pope to leave Italy in more than 150 years.

With that historic trip, the era of the stay-at-home pope was beginning to end. It disappeared for good when the globe-trotting John Paul II became pontiff in 1978.

Still, it took John Paul more than two decades as pope, and trips to dozens of other countries, before he appeared in the Holy Land in 2000. When he did, it was a huge success and established a new papal tradition that has been followed by Pope Benedict, who visited in 2009, and now Pope Francis.

So Francis is the fourth pope to visit the Holy Land, and the third in the past 14 years.

Pope John Paul II speaks to Israel's two head rabbis, Meir Lau (left) and Eliahu Bakshi-Doron (right), during his visit to Jerusalem in 2000. The pontiff reached out to both Jews and Muslims on his trip and was warmly embraced. His successors as pope, Benedict XVI and Francis, have also visited the Holy Land. Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Pope John Paul II speaks to Israel's two head rabbis, Meir Lau (left) and Eliahu Bakshi-Doron (right), during his visit to Jerusalem in 2000. The pontiff reached out to both Jews and Muslims on his trip and was warmly embraced. His successors as pope, Benedict XVI and Francis, have also visited the Holy Land.

Reaching Out To Jews And Muslims

Aside from a trivia question, these papal trips speak to the way the church is attempting to reach out, not only to Catholics, but to other faiths as well.

Pope Francis is traveling with two long-time friends from his native Argentina, Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Islamic studies professor Omar Abboud.

"Its greatest importance may lie in the fact that it reflects the normalization of relations between the Vatican and the State of Israel," Abraham Foxman , head of the Anti-Defamation League, writes of Pope Francis' visit.

Through much of history, popes weren't welcome in the Holy Land.

For many Muslims, the papacy is still linked to the Crusades of the 11th through the 13th centuries, when successive popes sent armies to battle Muslims and reclaim holy places for the Christians.

Catholics and Jews also had tortured relations that included centuries of Christian anti-Semitism in Europe and the church's official position of neutrality during World War II and the Holocaust.

An important breakthrough came in 1994, when the Vatican and Israel formally established relations, paving the way for better ties and John Paul's 2000 visit.

The pope was warmly embraced by Israelis as he declared that the Catholic Church was "deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians at any time and in any place."

He also went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, and placed a letter in a crack in the Western Wall, the holiest site for Jewish worship.

Likewise, Muslims welcomed the pope with enthusiasm as he toured the West Bank and called for a Palestinian state.

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Ironically, popes are now visiting the Holy Land at a time when the Christian population is rapidly dwindling in the region.

This week in Jewish history | Pope John Paul II makes first ever pontifical visit to Israel

On 21 March 2000, Pope John Paul II  arrived  in Israel for a historic five-day pilgrimage. During his stay, the pope visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and other cities, and talked about the need for peace, blessed Israel, and apologized for sins committed by Christians against Jews. 

The visit came after Israel and the Holy See signed the Fundamental Agreement, thereby establishing  diplomatic relations between the Jewish state and the Vatican on 30 December 1993. The only previous visit of a high-ranking pastor of the Church was Pope Paul VI on 4 January 1964. However, there were a number of differences between the two , including the generally positive tone of Pope John Paul II’s visit exemplified not only in his various speeches, but in its duration, which was significantly longer than Paul VI’s few hours in Israel.      

Pope John Paul II was greeted at Ben-Gurion airport by Israeli President Ezer Weizman, who thanked  him for “condemning antisemitism by labeling it as a crime against God and humanity.” In his remarks, the Pope said, “We all know how urgent is the need for peace and justice, not for Israel alone but for the entire region. May peace be God's gift to the Land he chose as his own." 

During a meeting with Weizman on 23 March, the Pope blessed Israel— a striking moment given that the Catholic Church taught that the Jews' exile was punishment for the death of Jesus.  

During his visit to Yad Vashem, the Pope  said , ''In this place of memories, the mind and heart and soul feel an extreme need for silence. Silence in which to remember. Silence in which to try to make some sense of the memories which come flooding back. Silence because there are no words strong enough to deplore the terrible tragedy of the Shoah.” The Pope met with Holocaust survivors, including several from his hometown of Wadowice, Poland.  

The Pontiff concluded his visit by becoming the first Pope to visit the Western Wall. In a time-honored tradition, he placed a note in a crack in the wall. The text of that message read: “God of our fathers, You chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your Name to the Nations: We are deeply saddened by the behavior 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.”

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Pope concludes first day in Israel with visit to Jerusalem

Pope prays at church of holy sepulchre after meeting with israeli dignitaries; says palestinians deserve sovereign homeland, israelis deserve peace..

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Papal Visits to Israel: A Retrospective

Pope Paul VI: Building Bridges Within the Faith

In 1964, Pope Paul VI traveled to Jerusalem. His visit was a whirlwind, lasting for a duration of eleven hours in total, and was viewed by the international community as a historic precedent. Though the Vatican did not yet officially recognize the State of Israel at that time, the Pope did agree to meet with Israeli President Zalman Shazar.

Pope Paul VI, otherwise known as the “Pilgrim Pope,” was the first Pope to travel to six continents while in office, setting an important precedent for future Popes. A former Archbishop of Milan, Pope Paul VI completed the Second Vatican Council, which is otherwise known as Vatican II. This revolutionary council, initiated by Pope John XXIII before his death, was to usher in a new era for the doctrines of Catholicism.

The goal of Pope Paul VI’s visit to Israel was largely to promote unity within the Christian community: He was the first Pope to meet with heads of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Perhaps the most significant aspect of Paul VI’s visit to Jerusalem was his meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I on the Mount Olives. The result of this meeting was a rescinding of the excommunications that took place during the Great Schism in 1054, establishing Jerusalem as a place where historic rifts can be healed.

While in Israel, Pope Paul VI visited several Christian holy sites, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Pope John Paul II: Diplomacy For a New Millennium

The visit of John Paul II in 2000 cast the relationship between the Holy See and Israel in a new light, and was hailed by media throughout the world as a groundbreaking step in international diplomacy. Unlike the visit of Paul VI, this one had official status. In addition to visiting Christian holy sites, John Paul II visited the Western Wall and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, marking the first time that any Pope had visited these sites that are central to Judaism. The new millennium seemed a harbinger of greatly strengthened relations between the Holy See and Israel.

The momentous occasion of the Pope’s visit sent the Holy City into a flurry of preparation and activity: On the day John Paul II arrived in Jerusalem, an Israeli security team of 7,000 was deployed throughout the Old City, and in particular at the holy sites.

In the course of his reign as Pope, John Paul II earned international approbation for his prominent and positive role on the world stage. He is credited for having strengthened relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox and Anglican Churches, as well as with world Jewry. Extraordinarily well-traveled even in comparison to other Popes, Pope John Paul II visited 129 countries in the course of his pontificate, often bringing with him a strong message of peace and conciliation.

The Pope’s confrontation with anti-semitism and the Holocaust excited the gratitude and admiration of Jews worldwide. He was the first Pope to visit the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz, as well as to pay an official papal visit to a synagogue—in this case, the Great Synagogue of Rome. In 1994, he became the first Pope to establish formal diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel.

 On his visit to Israel, John Paul II made a point of paying his respects at the sites holiest to Judaism and Islam as well as to Christianity. In furthering relations between the Christian and Jewish faiths, the Pope met with Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron. In addition, the Pope sought to establish good relations between Christianity and Islam with this visit, paying a courtesy visit to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem on the Temple Mount esplanade. 

In the course of his six day visit, John Paul II led an official mass at Christian holy sites throughout the country, beginning in Manger Square by the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, proceeding to the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, and reaching a powerful conclusion at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The purpose of his visit was not only religious, but political as well: John Paul II met with President Ezer Weizman and Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel while he was in Jerusalem, and while in Bethlehem he met with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

In keeping with the spirit of conciliation that pervaded his visit, John Paul II became the first Pope to visit the Western Wall and Yad Vashem. He left a prayer note at the Western Wall in accordance with Jewish custom, and this note was later enshrined at Yad Vashem.

 Perhaps even more significantly, John Paul II made a speech acknowledging the tragedy of the Holocaust and prayed for forgiveness for those who had participated. 

To this day, the visit of Pope John Paul II to Israel is regarded as a historic step in advancing relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel, as well as between Roman Catholic Christianity and Judaism.

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Pope Francis in Israel

The visit of Pope Francis to Israel on May 25 - 26 will mark an important milestone in the deepening relationship between the Catholic Church, Israel , and the Jewish people. In 1965, the Second Vatican Council adopted Nostra Aetate  ("In our time"), a statement of doctrine which rejected the charge of deicide, condemned all forms of anti-Semitism, and reaffirmed the permanence of spiritual relationship between God and historic Israel. But it would take another twenty-eight years until the Vatican recognized the modern state of Israel and established diplomatic relations in 1993. This was a development of huge political import for us, deepening our relationship with one billion Church faithful, many in the developing world. For the Vatican it had major theological significance, because it meant that the Church now understood the return of the Jews to their land and to history, not as a problem for Catholic teaching, but as a reaffirmation of it.

I remember the incredible excitement which marked the pilgrimage visit of John Paul II to Israel in 2000, and the prayer note which he placed at the Western Wall, and which now resides at Yad Vashem. It read: "We are deeply saddened by the behavior 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 visit of Pope Francis will be the third Papal pilgrimage to Jerusalem in fifteen years.  It includes prayer at the Kotel, meeting with the Chief Rabbis, a visit to Yad Vashem, a festive interfaith event with President Shimon Peres at Beit Hanassi, and a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In addition, Pope Francis will lay a wreath at the grave of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism. Indeed this is part of the official protocol, but consider the progress made since Herzl's failed meeting with Pope Pius X in 1904. At that time, the Vatican rejected the national aspirations of the Jewish people and called for their conversion, if perchance they managed to settle in the Holy Land. A century and ten years later, our relationship has transformed from deep rejection to equal footing, spiritual respect, and political legitimation.

The Pope has a unique personal style, a common touch, warmth and modesty, love of the poor, and, during his Cardinalship, he promoted a strong relationship with the Jewish community of Argentina. Speaking to La Republica in September last year, Pope Francis made the following remarkable statement: "Through the awful trial of these last centuries, the Jews have preserved their faith in God. And for this, we, the Church, and the whole human family, can never be sufficiently grateful to them.”   The Papal entourage to Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority includes a Rabbi and an Imam, two friends of the Pope from Buenos Aires, but also important symbols of his spiritual message to our region. I believe that his message and personal example will resonate deeply with Israelis, in this difficult time for peace in particular, and we look forward to sharing with him his smile, vision, hope and prayer.

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The Pope’s Millennium Visit to Israel

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No. 431   27 Iyar 5760   June 2000

Israeli Citizenship for Jesus?

In the 1950s, the French Catholic academician, playwright, and former Ambassador to the U.S., Paul Claudel, asked the cultural attachי of the Israeli Embassy in Paris to convey the following message to Martin Buber: Now that the Jews had recovered their sovereignty, would they consider granting citizenship to Jesus, thereby putting an end to his “statelessness” status both for Judaism and Christianity? This could contribute to the fight against anti-Semitism.

What Claudel meant by his call for the “restitution of citizenship” to Jesus, in both Christianity and Judaism, is what many people to this day seem to ignore. The appropriation of Jesus of Nazareth by the Church has been such an integral part of the process of the substitution of historic Israel by the verus (true) Israel of the New Testament, that it is difficult for most Christians to believe that the blond, long-haired, blue-eyed Messiah of Christian iconography could really be a member of an oriental, rejected people considered the “scum of the earth,” always represented in caricatural images. Conversely, the long social-theological-political struggle of the Church against Judaism has made it difficult for Jews to consider the founder of Christianity as a Jew.

Claudel was one of the few French public figures who dared, in December 1941, to write a letter to the Chief Rabbi of France expressing the “disgust, horror and indignation felt by good Frenchmen, especially if Catholic,” at the “iniquities, robberies and all types of bad treatment” suffered by “our Jewish compatriots.” I wonder whether he would consider the plea for forgiveness and the symbolic gestures made by Pope John Paul II toward the Jews and Judaism before and during his pilgrimage as steps on the road to reconciliation and a reciprocal revision of Jesus’ stereotyped image in both religions.

While the “Jesus question” is far from being resolved, other delicate political and religious questions for the Church were successfully dealt with by the Pope during his visit. One way to look at them is through the symbolism of the triple crown – the tiara – with which the popes have crowned themselves since the time of the Borgias.

The tiara symbolizes the three supremacies of the Catholic pontiff: as Bishop of Rome, over the other bishops; as king of the Papal State (today Vatican City); and as head of the Latin Church. During his stay in Israel, the Pope sent forceful message in all three directions at the same time, keeping them distinct and well balanced.

Beginning at the Synagogue of Rome

The Bishop of Rome had already stated his philosemitic position when he visited the Jewish synagogue of Rome in 1986. At that time, two small but significant incidents marked the event: A small group of Catholic fundamentalists waited for the papal cortege at the Vatican gate to demonstrate against the visit in a miserable show of opposition. For the Jews in general, and the proud Jews of Rome in particular (they have been living there since well before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem), the visit was a momentous event.

Conscious of his role and historic responsibility, Rome’s Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff insisted (contrary to Vatican wishes) that his chair and that of the Pope be at the same level and identical in size (which took some effort to find). This protocol incident was solved – so I am told – by the Pope himself. The visit to the synagogue confirmed the Church’s “absolution” of the Jews from the crime of “deicide” – as already decided by the Second Vatican Council in spite of strong internal resistance – and the Pope proclaimed the Jews as “older brothers,” a definition which did not satisfy everybody but which made the Jews “members of the family.”

The visit to the synagogue – as the Vatican stressed at the time – had nothing to do with recognition of the State of Israel. That recognition came in 1991 as a direct consequence of the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, from which the Vatican – like India, China, and the USSR – did not want to be excluded. The synagogue visit had even less to do with Church theology, which still maintained that there is no “salvation outside the Church.” Only in 1995 did a convoluted explanation published by the Vatican paper Osservatore Romano (May 7) suggest (after some discreet visits by a leading Israeli talmudist in Rome) that salvation could also exist outside the Church. It was the logical consequence of a previous revolutionary papal statement made in Germany on November 17, 1980, proclaiming that the divine “pact” with the people of Israel “had never been abolished.”

Following the Rules of Power Politics

While the “Bishop of Rome, heir of Paul the Apostle,” reinforced the special relationship between Judaism and Christianity, the King of the Papal State carefully followed the rules of power politics in order to foster its “worldly” interests. In the Middle East, that meant dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict and the not less delicate relations between the Roman and the Eastern Churches. One result was the signing of a “religious” agreement with the Palestinian Authority, which rejected any unilateral control over Jerusalem. This was followed by the Pope’s declaration, during his visit to the Dehaishe refugee camp near Bethlehem, that Palestinians had “suffered too long.” During his visit, the Pope took special care to show Arafat the respect due to a head of state and to bolster his international image.

It could hardly be otherwise since the Vatican – as one former Israeli diplomat concisely put it – was aware of the fact that “Moslems may like the Pope, but they also like to kill Christians, while the Jews may not like the Church but do not kill Christians.” There was, clearly, no reason for the Pope to make political concessions to Israel, knowing that Jerusalem would do nothing to spoil the pilgrimage.

Criticism of the Pope in Israel was thus scattered and mild. Some rabbis considered the papal mass held at Korazin on a Saturday a “slap in the face of Jewish dignity.” It could have been postponed until after sunset – they said – in order not to oblige many Jews, responsible for papal security, to desecrate the day of rest. Considering the huge, nationwide precautions taken to protect the Pope and his entourage, such a change of schedule would not have made much difference.

A Matter of Courage

Others complained that the Pope had not mentioned the ambiguity of Pope Pius XII toward the Nazi regime. It would have been quite inappropriate for John Paul II to criticize his predecessor. What he did was to refrain from mentioning him at all (contrary to Paul VI, who used the few hours he spent in Israel in 1964 to deliver a strong defense of Pius XII). Curiously, the Papal Nuncio, Pietro Sambi, in a lively discussion on that topic on Italian TV, remarked from Jerusalem, without entering into the matter, that human behavior is often “a matter of courage.”

John Paul II showed plenty of this, so much so that a leading Italian political commentator and historian, Indro Montanelli, asked whether his policy of all-around apologies was not “a life or death challenge for the world’s oldest institution.”

“Where is this Pope, who looks ever more tired, ever more suffering, but ever more determined to pursue something which we do not understand, leading us?” he asked. “If the Church recognizes that it has been wrong in almost everything, towards what new Church does Pope Wojtyla intend to lead Catholicism?” ( Oggi , March 26, 2000).

Nobody really knows, including the Jews who wonder what the position of the Church may be in the future.

It is no secret that within the Curia, the Vatican government, not everyone shares the present Pope’s policies. The beatification of Pope Pius XII and that of Pius IX who was directly involved in the Mortara case (the stealing of a Jewish boy, secretly baptized by his Christian nurse in the middle of the nineteenth century and never returned to his parents) will be a significant signpost on the road to future Jewish-Christian relations.

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Pope makes first visit out of Rome for seven months after health scares

Pope Francis has been forced to cancel engagements repeatedly due to his condition, but on Sunday he made a trip to Venice where he asked worshippers to pray for him, saying his work is "not easy".

Sunday 28 April 2024 15:25, UK

Pope Francis has made his first trip out of Rome for seven months with a visit to Venice where he asked worshippers to "pray for me". 

It was a rare acknowledgement of the strains of the job as he told thousands of the faithful gathered in St Mark's Square: "This work is not easy".

During a five-hour visit on Sunday, the pontiff visited an art exhibition and prison as well as conducting mass.

The 87-year-old unexpectedly withdrew from a Good Friday procession in March "to preserve his health".

He had been battling respiratory problems all winter that made it difficult for him to speak at length.

In December, he was due to go to the United Arab Emirates, but pulled out after coming down with flu.

A painful knee ailment makes it hard for him to walk and on Sunday he regularly used a wheelchair, with Vatican News Television cutting away whenever he was helped into a chair to give a speech, or on to his white golf cart.

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The Pope acknowledged Venice's "enchanting beauty" in his homily at a mass before about 10,000 people in the shadow of St Mark's Basilica, one of the most celebrated churches in Italy.

But he said the city also faced an array of challenges, including climate change, the fragility of its cultural heritage, and overtourism.

"Moreover, all these realities risk generating... frayed social relations, individualism, and loneliness," he said.

Venice introduced a €5 charge last week for day-trippers during peak travel periods in an effort to thin the crowds.

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He started the day by flying by helicopter into a women's prison where the Vatican has set up an exhibition that is part of the Venice Biennale, a prestigious international art show that has never been visited by a pope before.

The pope has repeatedly called for society to rally around the poor and neglected, including prison populations.

"Prison is a harsh reality, and problems such as overcrowding, the lack of facilities and resources, and episodes of violence, give rise to a great deal of suffering. But it can also become a place of moral and material rebirth," he told inmates and guards on Sunday.

He also addressed a group of young Venetians, urging them not to spend their life glued to their smartphones, but to help others.

"If we always focus on our self, our needs, and what we lack, we will always find ourselves back at the starting point, crying over ourselves with a long face," he said.

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Pope visits Venice to speak to the artists and inmates behind the Biennale’s must-see prison show

Pope Francis began his visit to Venice on Sunday with a meeting with women prisoners at the Giudecca Women’s Prison. The prisoners and their guards gathered in the prison courtyard where the Pope, pushed in a wheelchair, greeted all 80 detainees. (Production by Trisha Thomas)

Pope Francis met with thousands of young people along a canal in Venice Sunday morning and told them to “leave the cell phone and meet people.” The 87-year-old Pope was making a whirlwind visit to Venice where he started off his day meeting women prisoners and visiting the Vatican’s art exhibit at a women’s prison. (Production by Trisha Thomas and Luigi Navarra)

More than 10,000 people crowded into St. Mark’s Square in Venice to take part in a Mass with Pope Francis. (AP video by Paolo Santalucia) (Production by Trisha Thomas and Gigi Navarra)

Pope Francis travelled to the lagoon city of Venice on Sunday for a series of public appearances. The morning visit, which ended with Mass in St. Mark’s Square, represented an increasingly rare outing for the 87-year-old pontiff, who has been hobbled by health and mobility problems that have ruled out any foreign trips so far this year. (AP video by Paolo Santalucia and Helena Alves)

Pope Francis waves to faithful at the end of a mass in St. Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

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Pope Francis is greeted by Gondoliers upon his arrival in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis delivers his message as he meets with young people in front of the Church of the Salute in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Gondoliers wait for the arrival of Pope Francis in front of the Santissimo Redentore church in Venice, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis arrives in St. Mark’s Square to celebrate a mass in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Pope Francis, foreground, is greeted by Gondoliers upon his arrival in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis arrives in front of the Church of the Salute to meet with youths in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis is greeted by gondoliers upon his arrival in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis, aboard of a speedboat foreground, is greeted by Gondoliers upon his arrival in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis is flanked by Cardinal Francesco Moraglia, left, at the end of a mass in St. Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

ALTERNATIVE CROP OF ALT105 - Pope Francis, foreground, is greeted by Gondoliers upon his arrival in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. In background is the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis arrives in St. Mark’s Square to celebrate a mass in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis, background center, delivers his message in front of the Church of the Salute during his meeting with youths in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis delivers his message as he meets with youths in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis, aboard a motorboat foreground, passes past the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore upon his arrival in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis prays in front of an icon of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus at the end of a mass in St. Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Pope Francis celebrates a mass in St. Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Pope Francis, background center, celebrates a mass in St. Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Faithful gather in St. Mark’s Square, during a mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Pope Francis prays inside St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis leaves St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Venice has always been a place of contrasts, of breathtaking beauty and devastating fragility, where history, religion, art and nature have collided over the centuries to produce an otherworldly gem of a city. But even for a place that prides itself on its culture of unusual encounters, Pope Francis’ visit Sunday stood out.

Francis traveled to the lagoon city to visit the Holy See’s pavilion at the Biennale contemporary art show and meet with the people who created it. But because the Vatican decided to mount its exhibit in Venice’s women’s prison, and invited inmates to collaborate with the artists , the whole project assumed a far more complex meaning, touching on Francis’ belief in the power of art to uplift and unite, and of the need to give hope and solidarity to society’s most marginalized.

Francis hit on both messages during his visit, which began in the courtyard of the Giudecca prison where he met with the women inmates one by one. As some of them wept, Francis urged them to use their time in prison as a chance for “moral and material rebirth.”

“Paradoxically, a stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute,” Francis said.

Francis then met with Biennale artists in the prison chapel, decorated with an installation by Brazilian visual artist Sonia Gomes of objects dangling from the ceiling, meant to draw the viewer’s gaze upward. He urged the artists to embrace the Biennale’s theme this year “Strangers Everywhere,” to show solidarity with all those on the margins.

The Vatican exhibit has turned the Giudecca prison, a former convent for reformed prostitutes, into one of the must-see attractions of this year’s Biennale, even though to see it visitors must reserve in advance and go through a security check. It has become an unusual art world darling that greets visitors at the entrance with Maurizio Cattelan’s wall mural of two giant filthy feet , a work that recalls Caravaggio’s dirty feet or the feet that Francis washes each year in a Holy Thursday ritual that he routinely performs on prisoners.

The exhibit also includes a short film starring the inmates and Zoe Saldana, and prints in the prison coffee shop by onetime Catholic nun and American social activist Corita Kent.

Francis’ dizzying morning visit, which ended with Mass in St. Mark’s Square, represented an increasingly rare outing for the 87-year-old pontiff, who has been hobbled by health and mobility problems that have ruled out any foreign trips so far this year.

And Venice, with its 121 islands and 436 bridges, isn’t an easy place to negotiate. But Francis pulled it off, arriving by helicopter from Rome, crossing the Giudecca Canal in a water taxi and then arriving in St. Mark’s Square in a mini popemobile that traversed the Grand Canal via a pontoon bridge erected for the occasion.

During an encounter with young people at the iconic Santa Maria della Salute basilica, Francis acknowledged the miracle that is Venice, admiring its “enchanting beaty” and tradition as a place of East-West encounter, but warning that it is increasingly vulnerable to climate change and depopulation.

“Venice is at one with the waters upon which it sits,” Francis said. “Without the care and safeguarding of this natural environment, it might even cease to exist.”

Venice, sinking under rising sea levels and weighed down by the impact of overtourism, is in the opening days of an experiment to try to limit the sort of day trips that Francis undertook Sunday.

Venetian authorities last week launched a pilot program to charge day-trippers 5 euros ($5.35) apiece on peak travel days. The aim is to encourage them to stay longer or come at off-peak times, to cut down on crowds and make the city more livable for its dwindling number of residents.

For Venice’s Catholic patriarch, Archbishop Francesco Moraglia, the new tax program is a worthwhile experiment, a potential necessary evil to try to preserve Venice as a livable city for visitors and residents alike.

Moraglia said Francis’ visit — the first by a pope to the Biennale — was a welcome boost, especially for the women of the Giudecca prison who participated in the exhibit as tour guides and as protagonists in some of the artworks.

He acknowledged that Venice over the centuries has had a long, complicated, love-hate relationship with the papacy, despite its central importance to Christianity.

The relics of St. Mark — the top aide to St. Peter, the first pope — are held here in the basilica, which is one of the most important and spectacular in all of Christendom. Several popes have hailed from Venice — in the past century alone three pontiffs were elected after being Venice patriarchs. And Venice hosted the last conclave held outside the Vatican: the 1799-1800 vote that elected Pope Paul VII.

But for centuries before that, relations between the independent Venetian Republic and the Papal States were anything but cordial as the two sides dueled over control of the church. Popes in Rome issued interdicts against Venice that essentially excommunicated the entire territory. Venice flexed its muscles back by expelling entire religious orders, including Francis’ own Jesuits.

“It’s a history of contrasts because they were two competitors for so many centuries,” said Giovanni Maria Vian, a church historian and retired editor of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano whose family hails from Venice. “The papacy wanted to control everything, and Venice jealously guarded its independence.”

Moraglia said that troubled history is long past and that Venice was welcoming Francis with open arms and gratitude, in keeping with its history as a bridge between cultures.

“The history of Venice, the DNA of Venice — beyond the language of beauty and culture that unifies — there’s this historic character that says that Venice has always been a place of encounter,” he said.

Francis said as much as he closed out Mass in St. Mark’s before an estimated 10,500 people.

“Venice, which has always been a place of encounter and cultural exchange, is called to be a sign of beauty available to all,” Francis said. “Starting with the least, a sign of fraternity and care for our common home.”

Winfield reported from Rome. Associated Press writer Colleen Barry contributed.

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Pope Francis visits Venice in first trip outside of Rome in seven months

April 28, 2024 / 3:18 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Pope Francis made his first trip out of Rome in seven months on Sunday with a visit to Venice that included an art exhibition, a stop at a prison and a Mass.

Venice has always been a place of contrasts, of breathtaking beauty and devastating fragility, where history, religion, art and nature have collided over the centuries to produce an otherworldly gem of a city. But even for a place that prides itself on its culture of unusual encounters, Francis' visit on Sunday stood out.

Francis traveled to the lagoon city to visit the Holy See's pavilion at the Biennale contemporary art show and meet with the people who created it. But because the Vatican decided to mount its exhibit in Venice's women's prison, and invited inmates to collaborate with the artists, the whole project assumed a far more complex meaning, touching on Francis' belief in the power of art to uplift and unite, and of the need to give hope and solidarity to society's most marginalized.

His trip began at the courtyard of the Giudecca prison, where he met with women inmates one by one.

"Paradoxically, a stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute," Francis told them.

The 87-year-old pontiff then met with Biennale artists in the prison chapel, decorated with an installation by Brazilian visual artist Sonia Gomes of objects dangling from the ceiling, meant to draw the viewer's gaze upward.

The Vatican exhibit has turned the Giudecca prison, a former convent for reformed prostitutes, into one of the must-see attractions of this year's Biennale, even though to see it visitors must reserve in advance and go through a security check. It has become an unusual art world darling that greets visitors at the entrance with Maurizio Cattelan's wall mural of  two giant filthy feet , a work that recalls Caravaggio's dirty feet or the feet that Francis washes each year in a Holy Thursday ritual that he routinely performs on prisoners.

The exhibit also includes a short film starring the inmates and Zoe Saldana, and prints in the prison coffee shop by onetime Catholic nun and American social activist Corita Kent.

Francis' dizzying morning visit, which ended with Mass in St. Mark's Square, represented an increasingly rare outing for the 87-year-old pontiff, who has been hobbled by health and mobility problems that have ruled out any foreign trips so far this year.

"Venice, which has always been a place of encounter and cultural exchange, is called to be a sign of beauty available to all," Francis said. "Starting with the least, a sign of fraternity and care for our common home."

During an encounter with young people at the iconic Santa Maria della Salute basilica, Francis acknowledged the miracle that is Venice, admiring its "enchanting beauty" and tradition as a place of East-West encounter, but warning that it is increasingly vulnerable to climate change and depopulation.

"Venice is at one with the waters upon which it sits," Francis said. "Without the care and safeguarding of this natural environment, it might even cease to exist."

in the exhibit as tour guides and as protagonists in some of the artworks.

Ahead of his trip, Francis sat down with "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell during an hourlong interview at the guest house where he lives in Rome. 

During the interview, Francis pleaded for peace worldwide amid the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza .

"Please. Countries at war, all of them, stop the war. Look to negotiate. Look for peace," said the pope, speaking through a translator.

He also had a message for those who do not see a place for themselves in the Catholic Church anymore. 

"I would say that there is always a place, always. If in this parish the priest doesn't seem welcoming, I understand, but go and look elsewhere, there is always a place," he said. "Do not run away from the Church. The Church is very big. It's more than a temple ... you shouldn't run away from her."

The pope's Venice trip was the first of four planned inside Italy in the next three months, Reuters reported. He is scheduled to visit Verona in May and Trieste in July, and is expected to attend the June summit of Group of Seven (G7) leaders in Bari.

In September, he is also set to embark on the longest foreign trip of his papacy, traveling to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An extended version of O'Donnell's interview with Pope Francis will air on "60 Minutes" on Sunday, May 19 at 7 p.m. ET. On Monday, May 20, CBS will broadcast an hourlong primetime special dedicated to the papal interview at 10 p.m. ET on the CBS Television Network and streaming on  Paramount+ . Additionally, CBS News and Stations will carry O'Donnell's interview across platforms. 

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