(FMC) Local and international media present in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Jordan are preparing for Pope Francis’ arrival in the Holy Land on May 24.
His pilgrimage, made to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the meeting between Pope Paul VI and Athenagoras, will have implications and resonance in the mass media for several reasons that are religious but also social and cultural. Below are comments from several news sources.
NICOLAS PELHAM
Correspondant “The Economist” – Jerusalem
“I am in charge of covering Israel and Palestine for The Economist.
Therefore, the Pope’s visit for me will be an opportunity to discover the relationship between Israel and the Christian world, how Christians live as citizens in the Middle East. On the Palestinian side, I will take care of the relationships with Christianity and also what relations are between political authorities and Christians in Palestine, both in Gaza and the West Bank.”
ANAT PALAK
Israeli Radio – Arabic section
“We’re putting up a lot of content about the Catholic world and the patriarch. We are trying to talk with them. We will cover the day that the pope will go to Jordan and also his visit to the Palestinian Territories and Israel. We are also looking for materials that can explain what the objectives of the Pope’s visit are.”
Pope Francis’s visit will be an opportunity to put the beautiful face of Holy Land Christians in the spotlight, including their issues but especially to make resources available.
Fr. DAVID NEUHAUS
Head of Social Communication Committee for the Pope’s visit to the Holy Land
“The pope will visit three different political realities. And in each one, there is a strong sensitivity relative to how the general situation is described and also how the situation of Christians is described. The Church can talk about herself. The idea here is that the Church is an active component and that she is proactive in the discussion.”
And the website, created by the Church of the Holy Land for the occasion, is having a great amount of success among journalists.
“We have been contacted by journalists from all over the world. The idea behind our website was to offer a discussion in order describe the Pope’s visit and his coming by the local Church. And this is what we’re trying to do, with all the sensitivities required for different environments and what Christians are experiencing. So, our goal at all times is information, and this is why we have published materials that may be of interest to journalists and this is why we are getting many requests for interviews.”