二零零零年九月十八日

Mr. 大使,

我很高兴 welcome you to the Vatican and to accept the Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to the Holy 看到. My thoughts at this moment are of a deep and abiding gratitude: gratitude to God who in this year of the Great Jubilee led my pilgrim steps to the Holy Land and its peoples; gratitude to the civil and religious authorities for the welcome and attention they gave me during the intense days of my visit in March.

圣地将会 always occupy a central place in the minds and hearts of Jews, Christians and 穆斯林. 的 Year 2000, with its commemoration of the birth of Jesus, could not but draw the loving attention of millions of Christian people in every corner of the earth to the places where Jesus lived, died and rose again. 生动的 experience of my pilgrimage to the Holy Places lives on in my spirit as an extraordinary grace of God and a kind of testimony that I would like to leave, especially to the younger generation, as an invitation to build a new era of 基督徒和犹太人之间的关系.

我最希望的是 那次访问的宗教性质将不会被遗忘. 我最重要的目的 was to go from one Holy Place to another in a spirit of prayer, knowing that this "helps us not only to live our life as a journey, but also gives us a vivid sense of a God who has gone before us and leads us on, who himself set out on man’s path, a God who does not look down on us from on high, but who became 我们的旅伴”(关于圣地朝圣的信 与救恩史有关， 1999年6月29日. 10).

教会完全 aware that "she draws sustenance from the root of that good olive tree on to which have been grafted the wild olive branches of the Gentiles" (萨·诺斯特拉 酯, 4). 的 spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is so great and so vital to the religious and moral health of the human family that every effort must be made to advance and expand our dialogue, especially on 圣经、神学和伦理问题. 又新鲜又相互真挚 attempt must be made at every level to help Christians and Jews to know, respect and esteem more fully each other’s beliefs and traditions. 这是最可靠的 way to overcome the prejudices of the past and to raise a barrier against the forms of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia which are re-appearing in some 今天的地方. Today as always, it is not genuine religious faith and practice which give rise to the tragedy of discrimination and persecution, but loss of faith and the rise of a selfish and materialistic outlook bereft of true values, 空虚的文化. 所以你的话，先生. 大使，关于需要 moral leadership in responding to some of the more daunting challenges facing mankind in the new millennium find a ready echo in the convictions of the Holy 看到.

的持续来源 sadness is the elusive character of a definitive peace in the Middle East. We all rejoice every time a step forward is announced in the complex negotiations which have become an essential feature of relations between Israel and its neighbors, 尤其是巴勒斯坦权力机构. 继续对话和 谈判本身就是一个重要的发展. 这很重要 acknowledge just how substantial is the progress made so far, lest those involved be discouraged at the size of the task still ahead. 有时, obstacles to peace appear so great and so many that to face them seems humanly 不可能的. But what seemed unthinkable even a few short years ago is now a reality or at least a matter of open discussion, and this must convince all 担心解决方案是可能的. 它必须鼓励每个人施压 带着希望和毅力前进.

关于脆弱 question of Jerusalem, what is important is that the way forward be the path of 对话和协议，而不是武力和强制. 什么是特别关注的 to the Holy 看到 is that the unique religious character of the Holy City be preserved by a special, internationally guaranteed statute. 历史和 present reality of interreligious relations in the Holy Land is such that no just and lasting peace is foreseeable without some form of support from the 国际社会. 这种国际支持的目的是 conservation of the cultural and religious patrimony of the Holy City, a patrimony which belongs to Jews, Christians and 穆斯林 all over the world and 对整个国际社会. 事实上，圣地并不单纯 memorials of the past, but are and must continue to be the nerve-center of vibrant, living and developing communities of believers, free in the exercise of their rights and duties, and living in harmony with one another. 这是什么? stake is not just the preservation of and free access to the holy places of the three religions, but also the free exercise of the religious and civil rights pertaining to the members, places and activities of the various communities. 的 end result must be – as I said during my visit – a Jerusalem and a Holy Land in which the various religious communities succeed in living and working together in friendship and harmony, a Jerusalem that will truly be a City of 各国人民的和平. 那么我们都要重复先知的话: 来吧、我们登耶和华的山。 . . . 他可以教导我们 他的道，使我们行他的路”(Is 2:3).

Mr. 大使,我 prayers are with you as you begin your mission as Israel’s diplomatic representative to the Holy 看到, and I am certain that you will do everything in your power to increase understanding and friendship between us, in the spirit of the Fundamental Agreement and the other documents which are intended to 保证其应用. 同样，罗马教廷的各个部门也会 willingly cooperate with you as you discharge your high duties. 愿上帝保佑 善良会伴随你一生. Ps 22:6).