Mgr Giuseppe Lazzarotto, nuncio to Israel and apostolic delegate to Jerusalem, speaks on the eve of Francis' journey to Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. Arab and Israeli newspapers highlight the visit's difficulties, but the Holy Land is full of "tremendously rich" experiences. He talks about the pope's message and its true "political" meaning.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - In spite of the problems, tensions, and difficulties in the Holy Land, there are great expectations for Pope Francis' visit, which will bring "a new charge of optimism and hope," Mgr Giuseppe Lazzarotto, nuncio to Israel, told AsiaNews.

The Vatican diplomat, who is also the apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine, said that it is time to speak about the Holy Land in a positive way, highlighting its "tremendously rich" experiences. Among these, he cites the stories of Christians who fraternally rub shoulders every day with "other believers," i.e. Muslims and Jews.

In recent days, Israeli and Arab newspapers have focused on the difficulties the papal visit has encountered: "hateful graffiti" by Jewish extremists; security arrangements that hamper the presence of Arabs at the various ceremonies; appeals by Israeli radicals against the Vatican and the Cenacle; appeals by the Palestinians to the pope to defend the Palestinian homeland and help return expropriated land. Some newspapers have even describe the pope's visit to the Holy Land as "insignificant."

For Mgr Lazzarotto, it is instead a reminder of the urgency to learn that "walking together", sharing and respect, are the only way "on which to build peace." The "political" value of this trip is that without "dialogue and mutual trust" we go "nowhere."

Here is the interview with Mgr Lazzarotto. (BC)

How are expectations for the papal trip in the Holy Land?

In the Holy Land, we always live in a situation full of expectations, aspirations and hopes. That is even more these days because everyone is confident that the Holy Father will bring a new charge of optimism and hope. When it comes to the Holy Land, often, only its problems are mentioned and that is not right. There is a complex and of course sometimes difficult reality, but a reality that is tremendously rich.  We must be able to bring it out and put it to good use.

Give us some examples.

Look at the attempts of peace talks between Israel and Palestine, or the daily life of our Christian brothers and sisters, who rub shoulders every day with other believers.

We must learn to walk together, understand each other and respect each other, share the richness that is in each of us, and put aside what divides us and causes conflict, which is always the result of ignorance, poor understanding, and a lack of respect. We are confident that the Holy Father will really help us understand better how we can walk along this path, which is the only one on which we can build peace.

From the newspapers, we see so many express disappointment or frustration . . .

If you want to do good journalism, you need to flush out all the good things that are there in the Holy Land. We should not ignore what is wrong, but we cannot always give space and time only to bad things, to those who only voice criticism and hostility, who are negative, against this or that. . . . In fact, here in the Holy Land there are many men and women of good will. We should let them speak because they are the ones who can build the future. Otherwise, we will go nowhere.

Some are talking about the visit's "political" value. . .

The Holy Father is coming to help us understand the way forward, even in a political sense as well, but such a road runs along the path of dialogue. If we do not have dialogue and mutual trust, and mutual trust is a very important point; if we don't do this, we go nowhere.

• vatican
• holy
• see
• papal
• visit