Comment: Ahead of the Pope's Middle East visit, papal expert Dr Rebecca Rist examines some of the issues likely to be on the agenda and the crucial meetings Francis will undertake.
Release Date 22 May 2014
Dr Rebecca Rist, from the University of Reading's Department of History, looks ahead to Pope Francis' visit to the Middle East
Middle East peace
"Francis' visit to the Middle East is not only a religious event, but also a significantly political one. The fact that Pope Francis instigated this visit himself is no surprise. During the early stages of his papacy he has shown that he aims to tackle major religious and world issues head-on.
"The visit comes at an important time. Recent defacements of Christian and Muslim sites in Israel have fanned the flames of tension in the Middle East. The actions have clearly embarrassed many in Israeli politics who urge preventative action against such lawlessness, while the jurisdiction of Jerusalem is a constant thorn in the peace process.
"Francis' presence will help to calm the waters and ensure the peaceful dialogue and co-operation between both Israelis and Palestinians continues."
An important ecumenical matter - healing old wounds and a groundbreaking move
"Perhaps the most striking ‘religious' focused meeting will be that of Francis' and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the symbolic leader of the Orthodox Church.
"Cracks in the relationship between Eastern and Western Christianity started over a 1000 years ago. In the eleventh century, during the pontificate of Leo IX (1049-1054), a schism arose between the western Catholic Church. The papacy and the Ecumenical Patriarch Kerullarios quarrelled over the influence of the Latin versus the Orthodox rite in southern Italy which had once belonged to the Byzantine Empire.
"In an act of defiance the papal legate Humbert of Moyenmoutier (bishop of Silva Candida), an ardent eleventh-century reformer, laid down a bull of excommunication against Patriarch Kerullarios on the high altar of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Although Leo IX was already dead before Humbert's action occurred, the rift opened deep wounds which are still not completely healed today."
"The meeting of Pope Paul VI, with the then Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in 1964 was not only a pope's first truly ‘international' visit, but a break-through in Catholic-Orthodox relations. Although this meeting saw both men pray together, they did not do so in public.
"In a groundbreaking move, designed to further cement ties, both men will preside over and offer joint prayers at a special ecumenical service which will be broadcast live by the world's media. Francis and Bartholomew are expected to sign a joint statement on Catholic-Orthodox relations."
A show of strength for children and minorities
"Francis' meetings with various young and disabled groups, followed by a lunch with refugee families at a Franciscan convent Casa Nova, will signify the Catholic Church's commitment to supporting children and minorities. This symbolic act will remind Christians all over the world of his role model, the medieval Franciscan Saint Francis, and his own recent highlighting of the plight of the poor, refugees and economic migrants in Europe."
Encouraging the religious life
"Francis sees this visit as crucial to encouraging more Christians to embrace the religious life. He will plant an olive tree in the church of Gethsemane in the spot traditionally associated with Jesus' agony in the garden before his Crucifixion, and in the same place as his predecessor Paul VI. Many will see this act as part of a drive within the Vatican to support the cause for Paul's canonisation, a call which has gathered momentum after the recent canonisations of John XXIII and John Paul II."
A Pope for all religions
"The Catholic Church recognises the importance of being seen to be meeting and praying with interested parties in the Middle East: Christians - including Catholic, Armenian, Coptic and Orthodox - and also Muslims and Jews.
"During the Jordan leg of the trip Francis will take the opportunity to visit a church of the Latin rite where he will meet refugees and disabled young people. These visits are extremely important and more than symbolic gestures. Francis is keen that the Church should show solidarity with Arab Christians who continue to find themselves increasingly marginalised in the Middle East by calls for a Palestinian State which, although also Arab, would be numerically overridingly Muslim, and the state of Israel.
"Francis' proposed meeting with the Palestinian Authorities shows the Church's continuing support for the idea of a separate Palestinian State. A visit to the ‘Grand Mufti' of Jerusalem will show the Catholic Church's continuing goodwill towards all Muslim peoples. In solidarity with Jewish communities all over the world, he will also visit the Western or ‘Wailing' Wall in Jerusalem."