Nazareth, Israel – Pope Benedict XVI called Thursday on Christians and Muslims in Nazareth to live together peacefully, despite the tensions which in recent years have riven the two communities in the town of Jesus Christ’s boyhood.

Conducting mass on a hill overlooking Nazareth, the pope urged “people of goodwill in both communities to repair the damage that has been done, and … to work to build bridges and find the way to a peaceful coexistence.”

Nazareth is Israel’s largest Arab town and the centre of the Galilee region, where the majority of the country’s 150,000 Christians live.

Tensions between the two communities in the town spilled over earlier this decade, over a plaza built for the visit of Pope John Paul II, and the erection of an unauthorised mosque next to the Church of the Annunciation. The church is a key Christian holy site which marks the spot where the angel Gabriel told Mary she was to give birth to Jesus Christ.

Israel later removed the mosque, angering Muslims.

Most of Benedict’s homily at the mass, however, was devoted to the theme of family, with the pontiff saying that a visit to Nazareth offered a chance to “contemplate ever anew the silence and love of the Holy Family, the model of all Christian family life.”

“Here, in the example of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, we come to appreciate even more fully 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 said.

“How much the men and women of our time need to re-appropriate 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,” he noted.

The mass, held on the Mount of Precipice, where according to Saint Luke, an angry mob tried to hurl Jesus to his death, was the main and largest of the Pope’s five day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Benedict raised his hand in benediction as the popemobile, flanked by security men in dark suits and followed by dozens of blue- uniformed policemen, slowly made its way to the podium at Mount Precipice.

Many of the crowd applauded as the popemobile passed, others joyously waved Vatican flags, or flags of other nations, including that of Israel.

Police put the number of worshippers present as 31,000, the mayor of Nazareth said it was 50,000 .

The amphitheatre at Mount Precipice, constructed especially for the event, was ringed with heavy security. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said 5,000 policemen were to secure the mass, and a total of 8,000 would be deployed in Nazareth.

The mass at the mount, he said, was “the biggest and most significant event, in terms of size and scope, of the entire (papal) visit.”

Following the mass, the pontiff travelled back into Nazareth to visit the Church of the Annunciation.

He was scheduled in the afternoon to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, before holding talks with religious community leaders and then officials of the local Catholic Church.

During his visit, Benedict has met Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders, toured sites holy to all three monotheistic religions, and visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Bethlehem.

On Friday he is slated to meet with church leaders and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, before returning to Rome. (dpa)