Pope has message of hope for mankind

Pope Benedict preached a message of hope for all mankind today at one of the holiest sites in Christendom, telling his audience at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem that "love is stronger than death".

"The empty tomb speaks to us of hope, the hope that does not disappoint because it is the gift of the spirit of life," he said after praying at the Stone of Anointing where Christians believe the body of Jesus Christ was prepared for burial.

It was Pope Benedict's first visit as pope to the place where Christ was crucified, died, was buried and then rose from the dead, according to the Christian faith.

Ending an eight-day tour of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, the 82-year-old pontiff spoke of the "immense privilege of bearing witness to Christ in this the land which he sanctified with his earthly presence and ministry".

The empty tomb of the resurrected Jesus was "the very heart of the church", he said in an address to Christians of all denominations gathered in the ancient church inside Jerusalem's walled Old City, near sites sacred to Islam and Judaism.

Yesterday, the Pope said mass for 40,000 at the biggest event of his pilgrimage in the Galilee town of Nazareth, which the Bible says was the boyhood home of Jesus.

Pope Benedict sang a song of peace at an inter-faith meeting with Muslims and Jews and discussed the elusive efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace in talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

They talked about a mutual "desire to advance diplomatic ties between Israel and the Vatican and understanding between Judaism and Christianity", Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

It said the talks were held in a "good atmosphere," a tone that contrasted with controversy the German-born pope aroused over a speech on Monday at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial to six million Jews murdered by the Nazis.

Some Israelis had criticised the pope's remarks as having been too abstract and lacking in empathy.

Relations between the church and Israel have also been hurt by Vatican support for sainthood for the controversial World War Two Pope Pius XII and Benedict's decision to lift the excommunication of a conservative British bishop who denied the extent of the Holocaust.

Nazareth is located in the heartland of Israel's minority Arab community, who number about 1.5 million, about 10 percent of whom are Christian. Most Israeli Arab citizens are descended from Palestinians who remained while hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out in fighting over Israel's creation in 1948.

After focusing his remarks during most of his visit on prodding Israel and the Palestinians to work for peace, the Pope in Nazareth spoke of the "sacredness of the family".

He said that "God's plan is based on the lifelong fidelity of a man and a woman consecrated by the marriage covenant and accepting of God's gift of new life".