Benedict begins mass attended by thousands in Jerusalem
By Vasilije Gallak on May 12, 2009 in Featured, General News, Israel
Jerusalem – Pope Benedict XVI arrived late Tuesday afternoon in his Popemobil to the Garden of Gethsemane, outside the walled Old City of Jerusalem, to conduct an open-air mass attended by thousands of pilgrims and local Palestinian and Arab-Israeli Christians.
Members of the crowd waved the yellow-white flags of the Vatican, as well as Palestinian and some Israeli flags, while foreign Catholic pilgrims, many of them from South America, including Ecuador, also held up their countries’ flags.
A choir sang Hallelujah as he stepped on to the podium wearing a golden robe and holding a golden Papal staff, bowing and his hands folded. (dpa)