Dec. 4, 1963 - Pope Paul VI announced today he was planning to visit the Holy Land in January. The trip, “on behalf of peace among men,” will mark the first known occasion in which the head of the Roman Catholic Church has traveled from Rome to the land where Christianity was born nearly 2,000 years ago. The Pope will visit both Israel and Jordan. The Pope’s announcement startled Ecumenical Council Vatican II, which ended its second session today. The Council, as expected, approved in final votes a constitution reforming the sacred liturgy, generally regarded as the major achievement of the session and of the Council so far. The Pontiff, in a discourse concluding the session, said he would go to the places where Jesus was born, lived, died and, according to Christian belief, ascended to heaven. Pope Paul’s Holy Land pilgrimage will be dedicated to Christian unity and peace among men. The great Christian shrines have been divided between Moslem Jordan and the Jewish State of Israel since the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. Israel holds Nazareth, where Christ lived and first preached. Within Jordan’s 2,125-square-mile segment, west of the Jordan river, are such religious centers as the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the walled old city of Jerusalem. If Pope Paul travels by air — as he is expected to do — it will be the first papal plane trip.
