Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., May 28, 2009 Sivan 5, 5769 | | Israel Time: 00:32 (EST+7)
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Stations of the cross
By Ayala Tsoref
Tags: Benedict XVI, pope 

The production staff entrusted with handing practical arrangements for Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Israel could not believe the situation facing them: In discussing matters related to the pontiff's security, high-ranking Israel Police officers referred to the number of protective plates that would be positioned within the altar to be placed on the stage during mass, so as to defend the pope in the event of a shooting attack. "At one meeting, a senior police commander told us, 'If anything happens to the pope in Jerusalem, we will have created with our own hands the next Jesus,'" relates Yoram Friedlander, an owner of Faza, the production firm that worked jointly with Jerusalem producer Gidi Lis to set up the May 12 mass in Gethsemane in Jerusalem.

The Shin Bet security service did not leave them many choices, and compelled the production people to open up the altar and secure it with the shields.

The visit by Pope Benedict cost the State of Israel NIS 43 million, but the mass in Jerusalem was underwritten by the Franciscan order, at a cost of about NIS 4 million. The producers were consumed mainly with preparation of the altar, around which the entire ritual revolves.
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"One of the bigger disagreements we had with church representatives had to do with the altar," Friedlander relates. "We built the stage so that the chairs faced the crowds, since it is unimaginable to sit with your back to the crowd, but they insisted that it was the altar that was the key object here, not the pope or the other people on the stage. So they asked to have the pope sitting with his back to the audience, facing the altar."

Where did you learn how to build an altar?

Friedlander: "The church people gave us precise instructions regarding size, height, materials and design, and a list of all of the symbols that should be visible. Building an altar is quite the experience."

The production staff, which worked hard to prepare the event, did not have the privilege of seeing first-hand the man who is holy to hundreds of millions of people around the world. "He is very inaccessible. We were forbidden to come into contact with him," says Friedlander.

The Holy See, he notes, had no special dietary requirements for the pope. "Before mass they fast, from the morning on. Afterward, they break their fast on oranges, dry cookies and water. That's all. It's supposed to be be as modest as possible."

The Franciscans solicited bids from different production companies. The monastic order, which serves as the Roman Catholic Church's representative in Israel, comprises a few dozen monks and priests. They are funded by the Vatican, which defines their mission as being the Custodia Terrae Sanctae, the "Custody of the Holy Land," on its behalf.

Although the most senior Franciscan official in Israel is Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa (the "Custos of the Holy Land), the man who represented the Church on the production of the mass was Father Dobromir Jasztal, whom Friedlander describes as "the bursar, the finance minister of the Church." Indeed, Jasztal directs the financial apparatus of Roman Catholic Church in Israel, which aside from Jerusalem also includes sites sacred to Christians in Capernaum, in the Galilee, Cana, Nazareth, Tiberias, Bethlehem, Ein Karem, Jaffa and the Jordan River, as well as in Damascus and Jordan. All other facets of the visit were produced on behalf of the Tourism Ministry by Haimon Goldberg, who was also the acting producer of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations.

Organizing the mass placed quite a few hurdles before the producers. "The decision to hold the mass in East Jerusalem - it was explained to us that it would be the first papal mass in centuries to be held in Jerusalem that would be open to the public at large -- created a politically charged atmosphere," says Friedlander. "This is a sensitive place, one that is significant to all the religions. The Garden of Gethsemane is an area of some 40 dunams (10 acres) at the foot of the Mount of Olives that is owned by the Church). It is just opposite the Old City's Golden Gate, through which believers of all faiths believe the Messiah will pass when he arrives.

"When you are working in a place like that, you have to tread very lightly. At every juncture, with every decision made about the production, we also had to think about the political aspect, of how it would look to the Prime Minister's Office and how it would look to the Church. Throughout the entire process, a certain tension between the Israeli government and the Church was in the air."

The place where the ceremony took place could safely hold about 15,000 people. "Nevertheless, the State of Israel decided to limit entry to only 6,000 people. That was a source of dismay to the Church, which wanted to hold as large a mass as possible," explains Friedlander.

When queried about this, the Tourism Ministry told Haaretz: "The agencies entrusted with safety are the Israel Police, the fire department and the Jerusalem Municipality; it is they, not the Ministry of Tourism, who were authorized to set the maximum number of participants. Tickets were distributed by the Interior Ministry."

In 1905, the Franciscans' Holy Land Custody purchased the Gethsemane plot from the Ottomans. Over the past few decades, the area has been subject to neglect, and the open area lacks electrical cables and lighting.

Friedlander explains that "development of the site has been stalled since 1967," when Israel gained control over East Jerusalem. In terms of the Church, though, "Gethsemane is one of the most sacred spots in the entire area. This is the place where Jesus began his 'Via Dolorosa' ['way of suffering,' his path from Gethsemane to the place of his crucifixion]. According to the Church, it was highly important to the worshipers that the sanctity of the site be given expression throughout the entire mass."

"Clients who are involved in a production of this scope will typically concern themselves with big-ticket, budget-draining items, like stage design and arrangement of the speakers," says Friedlander. "The Church people swiftly approved all these items, but spent days on end on the subject of moving the trees."

Last remnant of Jesus

According to Catholic tradition, the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane area are the last living remnant on earth from the time of Jesus. "We were compelled to move about 50 trees, and each and every tree necessitated a separate discussion on whether it needed to be moved and where it would be moved to," recalls Friedlander. "They supervised us, to see that we were moving it appropriately, in a manner that was respectful of the tree, its branches and its leaves. We had to sign a very strict contract, according to which we committed ourselves to caring for each and every tree personally, and taking professional responsibility for its acclimatization in its new home."

About three weeks before the pope's arrival, an advance team from the Vatican arrived in Israel, headed by a man who, says Friedlander, "it was explained to us, was one of those closest to the pope, called 'the man who whispers in his ear. Whereas the Franciscans are modest folks, dressed in brown robes tied with a white rope, the pope's reps made a grand appearance. There we were sitting in church of the Franciscan monastery), waiting for the delegation, and suddenly about 10 men walked in, wearing magnificent gowns.

"We gave them a bow, all of us sat down, and then we were told: 'You may begin.' We stood up to begin the presentation, and then the embarrassing thing happened. Only after we had begun the PowerPoint did we realize that the words 'You may begin' had been directed at the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. He was supposed to start with a prayer, only after which our turn would come."

Franciscan monks tie the white rope that serves as a belt for their robes with several knots. Though people in the Israel production were curious about the meaning of the knots, they were shy about asking for an explanation.

Explains Friedlander: "One day the aide to the Custos arrived for a meeting. 'Yoram, did you get my e-mail about the altar?' he asked." Once the matter had been resolved, the Israeli says, the monk momentarily stopped in mid-stride and untied one of the knots on the rope around his waist. Which is how the production crew learned that each knot on the rope symbolizes a daily task, with the objective being to reach day's end with a rope that has no knots in it.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the Christian Quarter of the Old City, is not your standard building. When the production crew visited the site, it discovered an entire city of narrow passageways and corridors, immense halls and tiny rooms, all of which are part of the church, but most of which are inaccessible to the public at large.

"We felt like we were in the film 'The Name of the Rose,'" confesses Friedlander. "It is an incredible area, to which we would otherwise have never been exposed. I admit, at times it created a somewhat pressured atmosphere: I found myself alone, underground, in a place without cell-phone reception, walking through endless passageways that branch off in all directions. I was thinking that if I got lost in these passages, no one would ever find me."

The televised coverage of the papal visit was arranged by the news division of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, which positioned cameras at 24 different locations around the country. "We had to sign a contract with the Prime Minister's Office, in which the IBA committed not to go on strike during the visit," recalls Avi Cohen, head producer of the news division. "We also committed to numerous mobile units shooting video everywhere."

The satellite broadcast was relayed to the European Broadcasting Union, which serves stations in 70 countries, as well as to Reuters, AP, Al Jazeera, German TV (which sent an additional crew of 60), Italian TV and the Vatican's own television station.

"The cost of producing the broadcast was approximately NIS 1.6 million, but that does not include the salary costs of IBA employees. In exchange, we got only NIS 1.3 million from the state," says Cohen. "The rights to rebroadcast or documentary use are shared by the State of Israel and the IBA."

One of the difficulties in capturing the prayer sessions on camera was the prohibition by the administrators of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the admission of cameras, broadcast personnel or cables to the site. The solution, says Cohen, was to use "finger cameras," especially small units that can be activated by remote control, which even made it possible to capture the pope as he prayed alone.
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