Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Benin to a joyous reception. The Holy Father spoke about his affection for Africa. Photo by Helen Blakesley / CRS

By Helen Blakesley

“God is neither absent nor irrelevant” as Pope Benedict arrives in Benin

As the Papal plane touched down onto the sun-baked tarmac of Cotonou airport, the ‘press pack’ were jolted into action. There was scurrying and weaving about as journalists tried to find the best spot, with lenses as big as my head tucked under their arms.

I took my place in the scrum, just behind the Guard of Honor who would welcome Pope Benedict XVI when He stepped from the plane. I couldn’t believe my luck. Here I was, camera around my neck and video camera in hand, meters away from the dais where His Holiness would soon be standing. It felt surreal. And so exciting.

The door to the plane opened and the Pope emerged into the blazing afternoonheat. With that first glimpse of his white-clad figure, descending the steps, I caught my breath. A cheer went up from the crowd. Hundreds of women dressed in material bearing his image, waved handkerchiefs and started to sing and dance. They wore brightly colored headscarves, each representing a different parish.

The Pontiff himself had added a splash of color to his formal dress—he wore a pair of bright red shoes.

The military band struck up as Pope Benedict was greeted by Benin’s President Thomas YayiBoni and some of Africa’s cardinals and bishops who’d made the journey to welcome him. The 21 gun salute gave me a bit of a scare.

When it was time for the Holy Father to address the crowd and dignitaries assembled at the airfield, his gentle but clear voice was carried on the air, grabbing the attention of all, as he spoke in perfect French. His words were relayed by loudspeaker to the hundreds more who were waiting patiently outside the airport, lining the streets, to mark his arrival.

He spoke of his affection for Africa, of the “delicate transition currently under way from tradition to modernity.”

“Modernity must not cause fear, but it cannot be built by forgetting the past,” he said.

He warned against the pitfalls’ of “unconditional surrender to the law of the market or finance, nationalism or exaggerated and sterile tribalism which can become destructive, a politicization of interreligious tensions to the detriment of the common good, or finally the erosion of human, cultural, ethical and religious values.”

These words will resonate in a region that suffers its own inter-religious and inter-ethnic conflicts.

Pope Benedict stressed the importance of being guided by “recognized virtues…firmly rooted in the dignity of the person, the importance of family and respect for life.”

He spoke about the document He has brought with him, The Pledge for Africa (Africae Munus in Latin), outlining recommendations made at the special Synod for Africa in 2009 on the future of the Church in the continent.

“May this document fall into the ground and take root, grow and bear much fruit,” he said.

And he emphasized the role of the Church in contributing to the common good “in honesty and justice.”

“By her presence, her prayer and her various works of mercy, especially in education and health care, she wishes to give her best to everyone. She wants to be close to those who are in need, near to those who search for God. She wants to make it understood that God is neither absent nor irrelevant as some would have us believe but that He is the friend of man,” he said.

Words of comfort for all believers, especially, perhaps, for those in the northern hemisphere where congregations are declining.

Later, on the street, as I watched His Holiness pass by in the inimitable Popemobile, an amusing thought came to me. I already know what the Pope is having for dinner! No, not a premonition or a vision from On High. By chance, the other day, I met the honored team who’ll be preparing it.

The Mama Mia restaurant is a favorite lunchtime haunt of CRS Benin staff. Run by the Salesian Sisters of St John Bosco, it’s also a training center for disadvantaged young men and women, to equip them for a career in hospitality.

And so, I have it on very good authority that the Papal entourage can expect eggplant parmesan, stuffed chicken and gnocchi with pesto. And fresh orange juice–that’s the Pope’s favorite.

Helen Blakesley is CRS’ regional information officer for West and Central Africa. She is based in Dakar, Senegal.

Photo by Josh Estey for CRS

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Lenten period, which leads us to the celebration of Holy Easter, is for the Church a most valuable and important liturgical time, in view of which I am pleased to offer a specific word in order that it may be lived with due diligence. As she awaits the definitive encounter with her Spouse in the eternal Easter, the Church community, assiduous in prayer and charitable works, intensifies her journey in purifying the spirit, so as to draw more abundantly from the Mystery of Redemption the new life in Christ the Lord.

By immersing ourselves into the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are moved to free our hearts every day from the burden of material things, from a self-centered relationship with the “world” that impoverishes us and prevents us from being available and open to God and our neighbor. In Christ, God revealed himself as Love (1John 4:7–10). The Cross of Christ, the “word of the Cross,” manifests God’s saving power (1Corinthians 1:18) that is given to raise men and women anew and bring them salvation: it is love in its most extreme form (Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, n. 12). Through the traditional practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer, which are an expression of our commitment to conversion, Lent teaches us how to live the love of Christ in an ever more radical way. Fasting, which can have various motivations, takes on a profoundly religious significance for the Christian: by rendering our table poorer, we learn to overcome selfishness in order to live in the logic of gift and love; by bearing some form of deprivation—and not just what is in excess—we learn to look away from our “ego,” to discover Someone close to us and to recognize God in the face of so many brothers and sisters. For Christians, fasting, far from being depressing, opens us ever more to God and to the needs of others, thus allowing love of God to become also love of our neighbor (Mark 12:31).

In our journey, we are often faced with the temptation of accumulating and love of money that undermine God’s primacy in our lives. The greed of possession leads to violence, exploitation and death; for this, the Church, especially during the Lenten period, reminds us to practice almsgiving—which is the capacity to share. The idolatry of goods, on the other hand, not only causes us to drift away from others, but divests man, making him unhappy, deceiving him, deluding him without fulfilling its promises, since it puts materialistic goods in the place of God, the only source of life. How can we understand God’s paternal goodness, if our heart is full of egoism and our own projects, deceiving us that our future is guaranteed? The temptation is to think, just like the rich man in the parable: “My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come….” We are all aware of the Lord’s judgment: “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul…” (Luke 12:19–20). The practice of almsgiving is a reminder of God’s primacy and turns our attention towards others, so that we may rediscover how good our Father is, and receive his mercy.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, through the personal encounter with our Redeemer and through fasting, almsgiving and prayer, the journey of conversion towards Easter leads us to rediscover our Baptism. This Lent, let us renew our acceptance of the Grace that God bestowed upon us at that moment, so that it may illuminate and guide all of our actions.

Full text of Pope Benedict’s 2011 Lenten message.

VATICAN CITY, 12 JAN 2011 (VIS) – The Holy Father has written the following Message to mark today’s first anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. The Message was read out by Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”, during a commemorative Mass held in Haiti today.

“In order to mark the first anniversary of the terrible earthquake which struck your country, I join you all, dear Haitians, to assure you of my prayers, particularly for the dead”, the Pope writes.

“I also wish to pronounce a word of hope in the current particularly difficult circumstances. The time has come to rebuild, not only material structures but, and above all, civil, social and religious coexistence. I hope that the Haitian people will become the main actors in their own present and future, also with the support of international aid which has already demonstrated great generosity with economic support and volunteers coming from all parts of the world.

“I am present among you through Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum’. With his presence and his voice, he brings you my encouragement and affection. I entrust you to the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, patroness of Haiti who, I am sure, in heaven, is not indifferent to your prayers. May God bless all Haitians!”

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, THE PATH TO PEACE

At the beginning of the new year I offer good wishes to each and all for serenity and prosperity, but especially for peace. Sadly, the year now ending has again been marked by persecution, discrimination, terrible acts of violence and religious intolerance.

My thoughts turn in a special way to the beloved country of Iraq, which continues to be a theater of violence and strife as it makes its way towards a future of stability and reconciliation. I think of the recent sufferings of the Christian community, and in particular the reprehensible attack on the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baghdad, where on 31 October two priests and over fifty faithful were killed as they gathered for the celebration of Holy Mass. In the days that followed, other attacks ensued, even on private homes, spreading fear within the Christian community and a desire on the part of many to emigrate in search of a better life. I assure them of my own closeness and that of the entire Church, a closeness which found concrete expression in the recent Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops. The Synod encouraged the Catholic communities in Iraq and throughout the Middle East to live in communion and to continue to offer a courageous witness of faith in those lands. (1)

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In a globalized world marked by increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies, the great religions can serve as an important factor of unity and peace for the human family. On the basis of their religious convictions and their reasoned pursuit of the common good, their followers are called to give responsible expression to their commitment within a context of religious freedom. Amid the variety of religious cultures, there is a need to value those elements which foster civil coexistence, while rejecting whatever is contrary to the dignity of men and women.

The public space which the international community makes available for the religions and their proposal of what constitutes a “good life” helps to create a measure of agreement about truth and goodness, and a moral consensus; both of these are fundamental to a just and peaceful coexistence. The leaders of the great religions, thanks to their position, their influence and their authority in their respective communities, are the first ones called to mutual respect and dialogue. (10)

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Let us take to heart the words of the Lord Jesus: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted … Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied … Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Mt 5:4-12). Then let us renew “the pledge we give to be forgiving and to pardon when we invoke God’s forgiveness in the Our Father. We ourselves lay down the condition and the extent of the mercy we ask for when we say: ‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us’ (Mt6:12)”. Violence is not overcome by violence. May our cries of pain always be accompanied by faith, by hope and by the witness of our love of God. (14)

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Peace is a gift of God and at the same time a task which is never fully completed. A society reconciled with God is closer to peace, which is not the mere absence of war or the result of military or economic supremacy, much less deceptive ploys or clever manipulation. Rather, peace is the result of a process of purification and of cultural, moral and spiritual elevation involving each individual and people, a process in which human dignity is fully respected. I invite all those who wish to be peacemakers, especially the young, to heed the voice speaking within their hearts and thus to find in God the stable point of reference for attaining authentic freedom, the inexhaustible force which can give the world a new direction and spirit, and overcome the mistakes of the past. (15)

If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation:

The environment must be seen as God’s gift to all people, and the use we make of it entails a shared responsibility for all humanity, especially the poor and future generations. (2)
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Our present crises – be they economic, food-related, environmental or social – are ultimately also moral crises, and all of them are interrelated. They require us to rethink the path which we are travelling together. Specifically, they call for a lifestyle marked by sobriety and solidarity, with new rules and forms of engagement, one which focuses confidently and courageously on strategies that actually work, while decisively rejecting those that have failed. (5)
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CRS’ head of programs in Afghanistan’s Ghor province, Fazal Ahmad, shows where the wheat would normally reach. Drought meant many farmers lost crops and income from harvests. Photo by Agustinus Wibowo for CRS

The goods of creation belong to humanity as a whole. Yet the current pace of environmental exploitation is seriously endangering the supply of certain natural resources not only for the present generation, but above all for generations yet to come. (7)
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A greater sense of intergenerational solidarity is urgently needed. Future generations cannot be saddled with the cost of our use of common environmental resources. (8)
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In addition to a fairer sense of intergenerational solidarity there is also an urgent moral need for a renewed sense of intragenerational solidarity, especially in relationships between developing countries and highly industrialized countries: “the international community has an urgent duty to find institutional means of regulating the exploitation of non-renewable resources, involving poor countries in the process, in order to plan together for the future”
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The ecological crisis shows the urgency of a solidarity which embraces time and space. It is important to acknowledge that among the causes of the present ecological crisis is the historical responsibility of the industrialized countries. Yet the less developed countries, and emerging countries in particular, are not exempt from their own responsibilities with regard to creation, for the duty of gradually adopting effective environmental measures and policies is incumbent upon all. This would be accomplished more easily if self-interest played a lesser role in the granting of aid and the sharing of knowledge and cleaner technologies. (8)
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I would advocate the adoption of a model of development based on the centrality of the human person, on the promotion and sharing of the common good, on responsibility, on a realization of our need for a changed life-style, and on prudence, the virtue which tells us what needs to be done today in view of what might happen tomorrow. (9)
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Suitable strategies for rural development centerd on small farmers and their families should be explored, as well as the implementation of appropriate policies for the management of forests, for waste disposal and for strengthening the linkage between combatting climate change and overcoming poverty. (10)
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We are all responsible for the protection and care of the environment. This responsibility knows no boundaries. (11)
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Protecting the natural environment in order to build a world of peace is thus a duty incumbent upon each and all. It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity to hand down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all. (14)
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I invite all believers to raise a fervent prayer to God, the all-powerful Creator and the Father of mercies, so that all men and women may take to heart the urgent appeal: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation. (14)

Read the full text of Pope Benedict’s message.

Boys climb olive trees in the courtyard of the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem. Below the tree is a post saying “May peace prevail on earth.” Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

“No friend of the Israelis and the Palestinians can fail to be saddened by the continuing tension between your two peoples. No friend can fail to weep at the suffering and loss of life that both peoples have endured,” said Pope Benedict on the last day of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In Jerusalem, where even buying a candy bar can be a politically-charged decision (should I buy it in Palestinian East Jerusalem or Israeli West Jerusalem?), sometimes it feels like you’re not allowed to be a friend to both peoples. If you’re friends with one side, the unspoken assumption goes, you are de facto the enemy of the other.

By simply putting the word “friend of” before both Palestinians and Israelis, the pope was saying it doesn’t have to be that way.

A Palestinian man I will call “Yusef” lives in Jerusalem; he was raised Orthodox and became an evangelical Christian. More than anyone I have met on this trip, he embodies what the pope was expressing. Raising a disabled son he describes as “God’s gift to us,” Yusef refuses to give in to despair or hatred. His own life has been made harder—financially and in terms of family ties–by the Separation Wall the Israeli government has erected, but he speaks kindly of Israelis, including the Orthodox Jewish woman who gives his 4-year-old physical therapy and helped him walk. He asks, “How can I say I love God if I hate my brother?”

“The Gospel reassures us that God can make all things new, that history need not be repeated, that memories can be healed, that the bitter fruits of recrimination and hostility can be overcome,” the pope said when visiting the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on Friday. Yusef is young, and his troubles are not even memories yet—they are part of his everyday life. Yet he is healed inside himself.

“I am not right or left. I look straight ahead, and there is God,” says Yusef. “I look into God’s eyes, and I what I see is mercy.”

Young massgoers in the crowd as Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass on Mount Precipice in Nazareth, May 14, 2009. Photo by CRS staff

If earlier parts of Pope Benedict’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land had edges of tension, Thursday’s Mass in Nazareth was relatively short on controversy. Thirty thousand people strong, it had the feel of World Youth Days: the gasp as the popemobile enters, the waving banners, the cheers of “Long live the pope!” Teenagers spent the night or arrived hours early at an amphitheater on Mount Precipice, overlooking the city where Jesus was a teenager too. Some of the children and teens had painted their faces gold and white, the Vatican colors; many wore T-shirts made for the day. The adults sat sedately; the young people moved restlessly, adjusting their papal-insignia scarves, leaning expectantly for a glimpse of the pope, or hoisting their flags higher.

In the crowd were Palestinian Christians of all ages and denominations—an announcer welcomed “Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants”—along with a hefty share of foreign pilgrims: the flags of Italy, England, Lebanon, Spain, and many other countries flew. Reflecting on St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Pope Benedict drew on a theme every nationality could relate to: the family. Growing up in Nazareth, Jesus taught his parents and Mary and Joseph taught Jesus, Benedict said. In the same way, children today “have a role to play in the growth of holiness of their parents.” In a crowd of young people on the mountaintop, visuals backing up Benedict’s words were all around me.

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass in Bethlehem’s Manger Square. Several dozen Gazan Catholics were permitted to leave Gaza and cross the Wall to attend. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

‘Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,’ the well-worn Robert Frost quote goes, and that something was me on Wednesday. Wandering around Bethlehem’s eerily empty streets in the heat, I was unable to leave the city after a day of papal events because a very large slab of concrete was blocking my way.

My CRS colleague and driver had misplaced his cell phone and we’d gotten separated during Pope Benedict’s Mass at Manger Square in the morning. In the afternoon, after seeing Pope Benedict bless babies at a Bethlehem infant hospital, another colleague and I roamed on foot from one checkpoint to a second one. The checkpoints are places where people can cross the 25-foot-high Separation Wall to get to Jerusalem, which is theoretically twenty minutes away. The streets had been closed off and were deserted; no taxis were anywhere.

A Palestinian woman and her daughter outside the Caritas Baby Hospital in Bethlehem. On May 13, the pope briefly visited the hospital and blessed several infants. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

“Towering over us … is a stark reminder of the stalemate that relations between Israelis and Palestinians seem to have reached – the wall,” Pope Benedict said at a nearby refugee camp at the same time we were wandering. As my coworker looked for Wall personnel to see if any doors were open, I stood next to the Wall and stared up at its gray bulk. It definitely towered.

My problems, of course, were pretty minor. We walked for 20 minutes or so, and true to Bethlehem’s biblical reputation, a good angel found us. Though the street was closed to outsiders, a man who was perhaps a neighborhood resident happened to drive by, and immediately agreed to drive us to a place where we could meet a cab. We waited at a crossroads, eating some almonds I had bought at Manger Square as thousands of people flowed away from the Mass site. Eventually the cab arrived and we took a detour to an alternate checkpoint.

What was an inconvenience for us today wasn’t just related to typical Israeli policies; special security rules had been put in place for Benedict’s visit. And I have certainly spent some time waiting in line at metal detectors in America: at museums, theaters, airports. Yet the Wall represents something different.

Better minds than mine have mulled the Wall endlessly—the families it separates, the farms and businesses it undermines, the fear it breeds. Better minds have also discussed its pros, or rather its single, near-unanswerable pro: it may keep terrorists out of Israel.

On Wednesday the Wall did not keep out a swarm of loud, cheering Gazans. Ninety-three Gazan Catholics were permitted to leave their territory and come to Bethlehem for Pope Benedict’s Mass. During his sermon, the pope spoke directly to “pilgrims from war-torn Gaza” and spoke of the “suffering you have had to endure.” Referring to blockade that forbids Gazans to leave their small strip of land, the pope went on to say in English, “I pray this embargo may be lifted.”

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass in Bethlehem’s Manger Square as massgoers chant “Viva il Baba! Viva il Palestina!” [Long live the pope! Long live Palestine!”] Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

Catholic Relief Services has tried to help West Bank people affected by the Wall and Gazans affected by the blockade. We give food to families who once farmed land they now can’t access. We create jobs, like making cheese or building agricultural roads, to give work to those whose livelihoods have been compromised by access restrictions. We built a youth center in Aida camp, where the pope visited, so children who could no longer walk to nearby fields had a place for activities.

We also help Israelis hurt by violence. After the Lebanon war of 2006, we gave money to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to help Israelis displaced by shelling on the Lebanon border.

We can provide stopgap help. But the larger questions about the Wall remain. How do we keep people safe from terrorism? Aren’t a lot of inconveniences worth it to save lives? How do we create a secure homeland for Israelis, who deserve to feel safe in their country? What if the Wall is working, and people are walking down the streets of Jerusalem today alive because it exists?

No one has a good answer to the dilemmas raised in the Holy Land, but Pope Benedict seems sure that walls are not it.

Catholic Relief Services partners with the Bereaved Families’ Forum, a group of Israelis and Palestinians who have lost loved ones to the conflict. Instead of turning in on themselves and building new barriers, they have let the walls in themselves crumble, and stepped over into new land. Rami Elhanan, an Israeli whose 14-year-old daughter died in a suicide bombing, crosses through the Separation Wall to visit the Palestinian friend he made through the group. Rami often says, “There are two kinds of people the Wall can’t keep out: those who want to kill, and those who want to make peace.”

Wednesday at the refugee camp, Pope Benedict urged everyone trapped by one side or the other of the Wall to do what the Families Forum has done: “To remove the walls we build around our hearts, the barriers that we set up against our neighbors.”

Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Latin Patriarchate co-cathedral in Jerusalem, May 12, 2009. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

Laura Sheahen, Regional Information Officer for Catholic Relief Services/Middle East, is in the Holy Land this week for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit.

“Good energy there,” my CRS coworker commented as we left a church celebration for Pope Benedict today. The young Palestinian seminarians, elderly nuns, and magenta-robed prelates in the church were clearly thrilled to be seeing the pope in person. Praying and singing hymns in several languages, the congregation waved gold-and-white Vatican flags as they waited for Benedict to arrive. Sometimes the seminarians—many in their teens—would spontaneously break into the chant of “Benvenuto Benedetto!”

Benedict began his day with much-scrutinized visits to the Dome of Rock, which Muslims hold sacred, and the Western Wall, sacred to Jews. Perhaps it felt like a homecoming to be among his Catholic flock in the grand Co-Cathedral of the Latin Patriarchate, nestled in the cobblestoned Old City of Jerusalem.

During his brief visit to the cathedral, Benedict praised contemplatives for their sacrifices. He bent to bless several wheelchair-bound nuns at the front of the church as the sea of gold flags waved.

He also asked the Catholics there what many popes have asked before: to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. In a small way, his own visit was proof that it is possible. Though tensions between religious groups are a hallmark of the Holy Land, I was struck today with how calmly the city’s Muslims and Jews—that is, the overwhelming majority of its citizens—put up with the road closures, traffic jams, and security blockades the pope’s visit entails. Benedict’s pilgrimage means changes to school schedules and less business in certain areas, but aside from some resigned grumbling, most city dwellers seem to take it in stride.

There was more good energy at today’s Mass in the Kedron Valley, right outside the Old City walls. Another coworker, a Palestinian who was raised Orthodox but now practices Catholicism, took two of her daughters to the Mass. One daughter was celebrating her twelfth birthday. She told her mom she wanted to be there, and spent the afternoon getting sunburned with thousands of other mass goers as she waited for the pope to arrive. The 16-year-old daughter was part of a girl scout marching band that welcomed the pope, and spent the morning getting her hair done so she’d look her best for it. My coworker was happy too. “It’s a blessing to have the pope come and say Mass here,” she says. “And it’s a special place—the Kedron Valley is where Jesus will come again.”

Many people have commented on the dwindling number of Christians in the Holy Land. But on a day like today—seeing crowds cheer and pray and laugh—it was hard to feel bleak about their future.

A man spray-paints a message of welcome to Pope Benedict XVI on the wall of a stage meant for the pope to speak from. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

Laura Sheahen, Regional Information Officer for Catholic Relief Services/Middle East, is in the Holy Land this week for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit. Here she blogs about the day the pope arrived in Jerusalem, May 11.

Pope Benedict surprised many commentators when, just minutes after stepping off his plane in Tel Aviv, he called for a homeland for both Israelis and Palestinians. Many expected, and applauded, his strong denunciation of anti-Semitism. But few expected him to bring up the issue of Palestinian statehood so quickly.

Two hours after his brief speech on Monday, I was in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem. “Refugee camps” in Bethlehem aren’t tent cities in the desert—they are urban areas, usually run down, and made up of Palestinians who were displaced in the 1940s from villages in what is now Israel.

Today, the Palestinians at Aida were putting the finishing touches on the stage and school areas Pope Benedict will visit on Wednesday. One middle-aged man—his actions clearly sanctioned by camp organizers—spray-painted the words “POPE You Are Welcome in Palestine” near the Separation Wall that divides Bethlehem from Jerusalem. “Palestine” is not a country that everyone recognizes. The pope prays that someday people will.

Catholic Relief Services cares about this issue because without a statehood decision, people suffer, stay poor, or grow poorer. Politics is never the only reason for poverty, but political tensions definitely contribute to it in the Holy Land.

Groups like CRS can offer short-term help, like food or temporary jobs. A few years ago, CRS helped fund part of a youth center at Aida camp. Girl scouts were practicing on drums in the center today, getting ready for a papal procession down the camp’s streets on Wednesday. Building the youth center provided jobs to Palestinians in an area where work is extremely hard to find. It’s getting harder because of Israeli access restrictions sparked by fear of Palestinian attacks.

But Pope Benedict was not speaking of temporary solutions; he spoke of a political solution that could bring about an end of fear on both sides. He spoke of trust—the trust one person has when he knows the other person won’t hurt him. With that to build on, peace is possible.