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Last update - 19:27 27/04/2009
Israel launches special stamp series in honor of Pope's visit
By Haaretz Service
Tags: israel news, palestinians 

The Israeli Postal Authority is launching a special stamp series in honor of Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit next month, featuring churches across the country.



The pontiff is due to arrive in Israel on May 11 for a four-day stay, which will include visits to the Palestinian Authority and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
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He will visit Christian sites in Jerusalem and Nazareth, as well as the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. The pilgrimage will take the pontiff to Jordan and the Palestinian territories. In Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, he will celebrate Mass and visit a Palestinian refugee camp.

The pope is also set to hold meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres, who will be his official host.

The Tourism Ministry hopes to use the visit to promote pilgrimages to Israel. During the visit, Vatican and Israeli officials hope to ease the tensions that have erupted in recent months between the Catholic Church, Israel and the world Jewish community over the process to canonize Pope Pius XII.

The previous pope, John Paul II, visited Israel in 2000. He was the pontiff to establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, in 1994. The Polish-born pontiff was also the first pope to visit a synagogue, in Rome in 1986.

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