The Holy Father in the Holy Land

What a good time to return after a long period of illness, a change of job involving lots of stress, etc. (Sorry to those who have missed me).

At the end of last week Pope Benedict returned from a momentous visit to the Holy Land - a political minefield with visits to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, to two mosques, to a refugee camp in the Palestinian territories. Of course, the journey was first and foremost a pilgrimage to the holy sites and a pastoral visit to the few remaining Christians in the Holy Land but politics and inter-religious relations loomed large at every step.

It all began well with a stay in Jordan - a model of tolerance in a troubled region. The King and Queen accompanied the Pope on a visit to the site of Jesus' baptism, and the King's cousin, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, held an outstanding speech on Muslim-Christian relations, which is truly worth listening to.

(the from the 30th minute onwards)