In Nazareth, Pope Avoids Mosque Dispute

This country’s most discordant public square resounded with pealing bells from the Basilica of the Annunciation and a muezzin’s call for Muslim prayer Saturday as Pope John Paul II ventured into the heart of a religious standoff in the town of Jesus’ boyhood.

For 2,000 worshipers packed into the Roman Catholic basilica at midday, it was a time of singing, drumming and shouts of joy for a holy visitor after decades of dwindling ranks that have made Christians a minority among Nazareth’s 65,000 people.

For several hundred Muslims kneeling on prayer rugs not far away, it was a time to reinforce their claim to an adjacent corner of the square that is staked out with little green flags and steel pipes for construction of a mosque--a project the Christians oppose as intrusive.

With Christians praying that he would say something to stop the mosque and Muslims demanding that he keep quiet, John Paul rode into this heavily policed town in his bulletproof popemobile, applauded along the way by people of both faiths. In the square, kneeling Muslims focused on their prayers as he passed within yards and reached the hulking basilica, where a nun jumped up and down leading cheers.

The pope chose not to mention the dispute over the mosque, but his spokesman said later that the Vatican had quietly asked senior Israeli officials to review their decision to allow the structure to be built.

Instead, the pope’s homily at Saturday’s nationally televised Mass dwelt on what he called “the great mystery accomplished here 2,000 years ago,” when the angel Gabriel is said to have appeared to Mary, on the spot where the basilica now stands, with the news that she would give birth to Jesus.

As John Paul prepared to fly home this evening after a weeklong pilgrimage through the political minefields of the Holy Land, he left the Christians and Muslims of Israel’s largest Arab town in uneasy peace, its religious landscape still to be settled by the Jews who run the national government.

Violent clashes over the mosque dispute erupted last Easter, injuring several people and damaging dozens of shops. Some of the heaviest security arrangements of the pope’s visit were evident: Roads were closed for blocks around the basilica, and police were posted with binoculars on its roof to prevent a recurrence.

What prevailed was more like good-natured rivalry at a soccer match.

As Mass was ending, Catholic boys and girls in khaki uniforms and blue bandannas rapped on drums, whistled and chanted “Viva el Baba!” for the pope. They quieted down when the muezzin’s call wailed over a loudspeaker, but the volume of their enthusiasm picked up later even though the Muslims were still praying.

Some Muslim leaders grumbled that the chanting was a “provocation,” but nothing more came of it.

“The Crusades are over,” said Yusuf Hassan Shtawe, a Muslim who owns a sweets shop here. “We do not have problems with the Christians. We respond to the pope as a religious man.”

Indeed, the dispute is not simply religious; it’s also about political power and real estate. Nazareth’s Islamic community proposes to build the mosque to honor Shihab Din, whose satin-shrouded casket already occupies a memorial on the square. He is believed to be a nephew of Saladin, the Kurdish general who defeated the Crusaders in the 12th century.

Mayor Ramez Jeraisi, a Christian, wanted to turn that part of the square into a promenade for millennium tourists, leading to the basilica, but the project has been blocked for two years by Muslim protesters camped out on the site.

Israel’s government stepped in last year and gave the Muslims about one-third of the half-acre square, prompting Christians to close 35 shrines across the Holy Land in a two-day protest.

Muslims last fall laid a symbolic cornerstone for a $2-million, two-story mosque that could accommodate 1,000 worshipers.

“When the pope leaves, we’re going to take out all the necessary permits from the Israeli government and start our building,” said Deputy Mayor Salman abu Ahmed, whose Islamic Movement controls the City Council. “We are the owners of this city, and this land is not for the Christians.”

Banners strung by Muslims camped in the square Saturday declared: “A mosque near the church is a symbol of unity and harmony.”

“We respect them and their church. They must respect us,” insisted Said Bakarni, 26, a history teacher who had to walk about four miles through the cordoned-off streets Saturday to reach the square for Muslim prayers. “Look anywhere--Jerusalem, Bethlehem--you see churches and mosques side by side. Why not here?”

Christians Protest Occupation of Square

Angry Christians say this case is different because Muslims used force to occupy the square. They believe that the Israeli government caved in because of electoral calculation: Arabs make up one-fifth of Israel’s population; of these, 85% are Muslim; 15% Christian.

“There is no shortage of places to worship, no justification for occupying land,” said Riah abu Assal, the region’s Anglican bishop, who greeted the pope here with a kiss. “Some of our people question what will happen tomorrow when we wake up and the fanatical group occupies another plaza, a church, a home. . . .”

He continued: “We are predestined to live together, but not when people claim what isn’t theirs and continue to hold it by force.”

In announcing the Vatican’s appeal, papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said reversing the decision would be “an easy thing” for the Israeli government because the issue has divided Muslims.

The Muslim-dominated Palestinian Authority, for example, has backed the Christians in Nazareth, apparently in return for the Vatican’s endorsement of authority President Yasser Arafat’s quest for an independent Palestinian homeland.

John Paul has been deliberately vague on political issues dividing the Holy Land as he has pursued a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Jesus. His strongest appeals here have been for justice and mutual tolerance at this crossroads of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Meeting in Jerusalem late Saturday with leaders of seven non-Catholic Christian churches, the pope said that such harmony would be easier if Christians overcame what he called their own “scandalous” divisions and worked toward ending their millennium-old schism.

Non-Catholics need not give up their individual liturgical rites and canonical traditions, because such diversity “enhances the splendor of the church,” he said.

Diodoros, Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox patriarch and the host of the meeting, insisted that Christian unity requires “unfeigned love without selfish aims and pursuits,” and he identified Catholic proselytizing as one obstacle.

The meeting had its awkward moments. Gifts and champagne toasts were exchanged, but there was little spontaneous conversation. Five Orthodox groups sat in silence while Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans joined in when the Vatican’s delegate in Jerusalem, Msgr. Pietro Sambi, called for a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, “each in our own language.” Orthodox priests later explained that it is not customary for them to pray in such circumstances and that they were taken aback by the suggestion.

John Paul went from the meeting to pray alone for 15 minutes at Gethsemane, believed to be the scene of Christ’s torment the night before his crucifixion.

Parkinson’s Symptoms Are Apparent

The Mass at the basilica here was clearly a joyous moment for the 79-year-old pope, although he looked more fragile than he had all week. He delivered his homily in a hoarse voice with long pauses. He seemed to lose his balance briefly as he knelt, and his left hand trembled badly, a symptom typical of Parkinson’s disease.

Pilgrims threw rose petals in the path of his vehicle as it headed into Nazareth, crossing the main downtown street, which was named for Pope Paul VI after his visit here in 1964.

The streets, cleaned up since the end of a garbage strike a week ago that threatened to pollute the visit, were adorned with yellow-and-white Vatican flags.

Long lines of well-dressed worshipers formed outside the basilica as they passed through police metal detectors for the invitation-only Mass. Scores forced to remain outside sat in white plastic chairs and watched the service on a giant television screen.

The pope knelt for five minutes of silent prayer in the grotto of the austere basilica, dedicated in 1968 over the ruins of a Crusader church razed by Muslim conquerors. Catholics believe that the grotto was Mary’s home as well as the place of her encounter with the angel; Orthodox Christians claim a rival Annunciation site in their cathedral across town.

Despite his fatigue, John Paul shunned a small elevator installed to lift him from the sunken grotto and instead climbed a short flight of stairs to say Mass in the basilica’s upper level.

Saturday was the annual Catholic feast of the Annunciation. John Paul, whose devotion to Mary is unparalleled, timed his entire Holy Land pilgrimage to be here on this day.

Praying to Mary, he asked in his homily “for a great renewal of faith in all the children of the church” and for her help “to defend the family against so many present-day threats.”

“I ask her to teach us the way of humble and joyful obedience to the Gospel in the service of our brothers and sisters, without preferences and without prejudices,” he added.

Later, he gave Communion to a few select worshipers, including a limping old Arab in a white headdress who used a cane. He gave the pope a pat on the hand after taking the wafer. When the service ended, admirers rushed the altar, waving and chanting. The choir sang; worshipers rattled tambourines. The pope waved. Police controlled the surge.

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Wilkinson reported from Nazareth and Boudreaux from Jerusalem. Staff writer Rebecca Trounson in Jerusalem contributed to this report.