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A glance at Pope Francis’ Holy Land pilgrimage

ARIEL DAVID
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Here is a glance at the highlights of Pope Francis’ visit to Jerusalem on Monday, the third and last day of his Holy Land pilgrimage.

— Visits the Dome of the Rock, Islam’s third-holiest site, atop the contested complex revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount.

— Removes his shoes to enter the shrine and urges his “brother” Muslims to never commit violence in God’s name.

— Prays at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, and leaves a note with a text of the “Our Father” prayer in Spanish in a crack between the stones.

— Lays a wreath of white and yellow flowers, the colors of the Vatican, at the tomb of the founder of Zionism, Theodore Herzl.

— Following his prayer on Sunday at the controversial separation barrier in Bethlehem, makes an unscheduled stop at a memorial for Israelis killed in terror attacks and leans in prayer on the plaques lined with the names of victims.

— Visits the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and meets with six Holocaust survivors, kissing the hands of each one and listening to their life stories.

— Calls the Holocaust “an evil” that had never been seen before and prays to God that such a tragedy may never be repeated.

— Meets with Israel’s chief rabbis, recalls the Jewish roots of Christianity and says the bond between the two faiths is unbreakable despite the “difficulties” in relations in the past.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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