To do so with grace, with human compassion, and with simple dignity is a grand gesture indeed. Coming in the wake of the Pope s historical apology for the past mistakes and sins committed in the name of Christianity, such a pilgrimage is truly a redemptive journey both of the soul and of history. Rather than dictating the degree, nature, and actual diction of this repentance, Israel should glean a serious moral lesson. Its own historical apology for crimes committed and still being perpetrated against the Palestinians is long overdue. Injustices have a habit of not disappearing at the will of the guilty party.
Reconciliation begins with contrition, and confession is a necessary step towards forgiveness.
In this part of the world, however Holy, the profanity of injustice continues, often in the guise of pursuing a sacred peace. The redemption of history begins with the immediate refraining from repeating its injustices and the cessation of continuing victimization. It is time for the collective conscience to begin a serious exercise of self- examination and critical assessment. The present is required not only to redeem the past but also to create a future.