THE NEOCATECHUMENAL WAY

ABC NEWS: THE POPE ON THE MOUNT
By Courtney Kealy

JERUSALEM, March 24 — Pope John Paul II celebrated mass today on the muddied slopes above the Sea of Galilee with a solemn processional across the red-carpeted stage, where a large portrait of Jesus hung behind the open-air altar.

Thousands Gather at Holy Site for Papal Mass
Pope John Paul II is driven through the cheering crowds as he arrives in Korazim, near the biblical Sea of Galilee. The site of the Mass is the same hillside where tradition holds that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. (Santiago Lyon/AP Photo)

He delivered a homily that quoted from the Beatitudes, which Jesus spoke during his Sermon on The Mount here almost 2,000 years ago.

“‘Blessed are you,’ he says, ‘all you who are poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, you who mourn, who care for what is right, who are pure in heart, who make peace, you who are persecuted! Blessed are you.’”

A solemn and reverent tone kept the crowd sitting quietly in their seats.

A highpoint of the Mass was the Blessing of the Communion wafer. As the pope blessed the large wafer holding it up above his face, this symbolism of Catholic faith represented the multitudes of Catholics in the audience.

Pope John Paul II ended Mass by blessing the audience and singing “May the Lord God, bless you and keep you.” The audience sang amen in unison and cheered and whistled.

As a group of Spanish guitarists started singing, the pope received people on the altar and the crowd took on a celebratory spirit. Many joined hands and danced in small circles among the different flags of the world: Palestinian, Israeli, Italian, Japanese, Canadian and Spanish among them.

Woodstock-like Mood

The mood had been similarly jovial as the pope arrived. He smiled and waved as his popemobile drove him through the largest gathering yet — an estimated 100,000 worshipers who chanted “Viva El Papa” and what has become the ubiquitous welcome cheer at every Holy Land event: “John Paul II, we love you.”

Among the worshippers were 50,000 teenagers, some of whom camped on the grounds overnight and created a Woodstock-like mood. While they waited excitedly for the Mass to start, they danced in the mud and strummed guitars.

Many of these teenagers are part of a movement within the Catholic Church called the Neo-Catechumenal Way, which was founded in the 1960’s in an attempt to revitalize the Catholic Church’s appeal to the younger generations.

“I am dancing because of happiness. This is the start of year 2000,” said Marina, who came from nearby Haifa.

There are less than 180,000 Christians in Israel and the Palestinian territories comprising less than two percent of the population.

The Mount of Beatitudes, situated above the Sea of Galilee, is the site where Jesus delivered the Sermon on The Mount. (Its famous verses all begin with “Blessed are …”) Pope Paul VI also visited here in 1964.