Bethlehem, West Bank - Pope Benedict XVI made the most politically-charged speech of his visit to the Holy Land Wednesday, voicing strong support for a Palestinian state but also calling on Palestinian youth to renounce violence against Israelis. Detouring from what aides had earlier billed as a purely spiritual pilgrimage, the pontiff also said he prayed for an end to the Israeli economic blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
And in a mass conducted after his arrival ceremony in the biblical West Bank city of Bethlehem, the pontiff called on local Christians to "persevere."
Beginning the Palestinian leg of his tour of Israel and the Palestinian areas, Benedict told his hosts that "the Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbours, within internationally recognized borders,"
He also expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, telling them "I know how much you have suffered," and with Palestinian refugees, saying "My heart goes out to all the families who have been left homeless."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, welcoming the spiritual leader of the world's 1 billion Catholics to the city where Jesus Christ was born, thanked Benedict for the Vatican's understanding of the "suffering of our people" and called for a peace with Israel based on a two-state solution.
Benedict also voiced "deep compassion" with Palestinians who lost loved ones in Israel's recent Gaza offensive, and asked for international assistance in rebuilding the enclave.
But he urged Palestinians not to use to violence and terrorism to achieve their national aspirations.
"I make this appeal to the many young people throughout the Palestinian Territories today: do not allow the loss of life and the destruction that you have witnessed to arouse bitterness or resentment in your hearts. Have the courage to resist any temptation you may feel to resort to acts of violence or terrorism," he said.
From the welcome ceremony, the pontiff headed in his trademark popemobile to Manger Square, outside the birthplace of Christ, where he conducted a mass for thousands of local Christians and foreign pilgrims, who waited patiently for the pontiff,and who chanted "viva il Papa."
A giant poster of Benedict and a huge Palestinian flag dangled from a building adjacent to the square..
"Here in Bethlehem, a special perseverance is asked of Christ's disciples," Benedict said.
"In a special way my heart goes out to the pilgrims from war-torn Gaza: I ask you to bring back to your families and your communities my warm embrace, and my sorrow for the loss, the hardship and the suffering you have had to endure."
In an otherwise largely religious address, the pontiff told Gazans they had his prayers that Israel's economic embargo of the strip "will soon be lifted."
The Catholic Church had said it asked Israel for travel permits for some 250 Christians living in the crowded coastal enclave, to allow them to attend Papal masses in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth. But of those Israel had approved under 100. A tiny minority of between 1,000 - 3,000 Christians live in Gaza, of whom 286 are Catholics.
In the West Bank, some 50,000 Christian Palestinians live among 2.4 million Muslims.
Several veiled Muslim wives and mothers attended the Bethlehem mass as well, holding up photographs of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.
The pope also prayed privately at the Grotto of the Nativity in the Church of the Nativity before visiting the local Caritas Baby Hospital.
He was also scheduled to to tour the nearby Aida refugee camp, a visit local Palestinians consider one of the highlights of his one-day stopover in the Palestinian areas.
He was expected to address the camp's 5,000 refugees from the courtyard of the local UN-run school, which was decked with small Vatican and Palestinian flags.
A huge sign at the school proclaimed that "it is time to enable Palestinian refugees to exercise their fundamental right of return."
After the camp Benedict was to meet again with Abbas, before returning to Jerusalem.
The Pope arrived Monday from Jordan for the five-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian areas - his first to the Middle East as pontiff, and only the third Pope to visit the region in modern times.
