Papal trip already met Two goals says Fr Lombardi

(May 11, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI has reached the goals that were set for the first leg of his weeklong pilgrimage to the Holy Land, says the Vatican spokesman. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office and Vatican Radio, affirmed that the results of Part One of the Pope's pilgrimage are thus far "very positive." "The Pope has been able to celebrate all the meetings scheduled in the program with great serenity, receiving a very warm and friendly welcome, both on the part of the state authorities and the royal family, and on the part of the Muslim world and the Catholic community," Father Lombardi said. "It seems to me very wise to have begun this trip through a gate of peace, a gate of serenity," he reflected. "In this moment, in the setting of the Middle East, Jordan is a country that is essentially serene, and has made the beginning of the trip be particularly positive." "It seems that it's becoming more and more normal for a pope, with a friendly attitude, to enter a Muslim place of prayer," he said. "This is a sign of the advance in the positive relationship between Christians and Muslims in these years." Father Lombardi said the other objective the Pope had was to show support for the small Christian community, which makes up only about 3% of Jordan's more than 6 million people. And only about half the Christians are Catholics. Upon arriving to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Father Lombardi said the Pope is hoping that this visit "can be truly a message of peace, reconciliation, and encouragement for the Christian communities that find themselves in difficulties -- a message of hope, of trust, of love to give an effective contribution to improve the situation in the whole region."