The Other Jesus

Christ is absolutely original and absolutely unique. If He were only a wise man like Socrates, if He were a prophet like Muhammad, if He were enlightened like the Buddha, without doubt He would not be what He is.
--John Paul II

Ever since his election, John Paul II has wanted one thing: to walk where Jesus walked, preach where Jesus taught and pray where Jesus was crucified, died and was buried. This week the pope finally gets his chance. Weary in body but ecstatic in spirit, John Paul makes his long-anticipated pilgrimage to the Holy Land. For him it is a personal "journey with God"; there will be no intruding television cameras when, lost in prayer, he communes alone at Christianity's holiest shrines. But the land of his heart's desire is holy to Jews and Muslims as well. And so the pope will visit the Western Wall, Judaism's most sacred site, and the Mosque of El Aqsa atop the Temple Mount. He will also meet with Muslim and Jewishc religious leaders and--in one particularly resonant moment--pause to pray at Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to victims of the Holocaust.

Like his powerful plea for ... // 94% Remaining