At Nazareth Mass, Pope urges Muslims and Christians to reject hatred

Pope Benedict XVI greeted tens of thousands of adoring followers in Jesus' childhood hometown with a message of reconciliation Thursday, urging Christian and Muslims to reject the destructive power of hatred and prejudice.

"I urge people of goodwill in both communities to repair the damage that has been done, and in fidelity to our common belief in one God, the Father of the human family, to work to build bridges and find the way to a peaceful coexistence," he said.

"Let everyone reject the destructive power of hatred and prejudice, which kills men's souls before it kills their bodies."

Nazareth, one of the largest towns where Israeli Arab citizens live, Mount Precipice, where the Bible says a mob tried to hurl Jesus off a cliff, was chosen as the site for the papal mass.

The German-born pontiff, who has come under criticism in Israel over a speech at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial that some rabbis and politicians said lacked empathy, was to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later in the day in the northern town.

Some 1.5 million Israelis, about a fifth of the population, are Arabs, 10 percent of whom are Christian.

The faithful waved Vatican flags as Benedict XVI arrived in his white "popemobile" at the town southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Police gave an initial crowd estimate of around 30,000.

During the visit, the pope met with the Bishop of the Catholic community in the Galilee, Elias Shakur.

Shakur told the pope of the Christian residents of the Upper Galilee villages of Ikrit and Biram, who have been trying to return home since they were first evicted by the Israel Defense Forces in 1948, during fighting on the Lebanese border. He asked the pontiff to work toward the residents' return to their villages.

Moving away from political issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Benedict later spoke of "the sacredness of the family, which in God's plan is based on the lifelong fidelity of a man and a woman consecrated by the marriage covenant and accepting of God's gift of new life."

He added: "How much the men and women of our time need to reappropriate this fundamental truth, which stands at the foundation of society, and how important is the witness of married couples for the formation of sound consciences and the building of a civilization of love!"

The Catholic Church is against divorce and homosexual marriage and has ascribed many of society's ills to the breakdown of the traditional family.

The pope said government legislation should be aware of the common good that the traditional family offers society and protect it, even with financial assistance if necessary.

During the trip, Benedict was also to visit the Church of the Annunciation, the site where Christians believe the angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary she would give birth to the son of God.

He completes his pilgrimage in Jerusalem on Friday with a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and the tomb where he was buried.

On Wednesday, the Pontiff branded the West Bank separation fence as a symbol of "stalemate" between Israel and the Palestinians, urging both sides to break a "spiral of violence."

"Towering over us, as we gather here this afternoon, is a stark reminder of the stalemate that relations between Israelis and Palestinians seem to have reached - the wall," he said, standing by the fence at a refugee camp in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus.

The Pope called for a sovereign Palestinian homeland after arriving in Bethlehem at the start of a one-day visit to the West Bank.

	Pope Benedict XVI stepping out of the 'Popemobile' in Nazareth Thursday.
	Photo by: (Reuters)