Exhibition ‘Pope Francis in the Holy Land’ opens in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia on May 3
An exhibition entitled “Pope Francis in the Holy Land” is to be held from May 3 to 10 in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel Sofia, the embassy of Israel said.
The exhibition is on the occasion of the May 5 to 7 visit by Pope Francis to Bulgaria and the 25th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the State of Israel and the Holy See.
The historic Fundamental Agreement between Israel and the Vatican was signed on December 30, 1993, in Jerusalem, under the pontificate of pope John Paul II.
Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land in May 2014 was not the first papal visit to Israel – Paul VI visited Jerusalem in 1964, John Paul II visited Israel in 2000, and Pope Benedict XVI visited Israel in 2009.
Pope Francis’ visit to Israel five years ago was the first official papal visit outside Vatican after the beginning of his Pontificate on March 13 2013.
During his pilgrimage, the Pope prayed in front of Israel’s memorial to the victims of terrorism, honoured the memory of the victims of Holocaust at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and visited the key holy places for the three major monotheistic religions.
“His decision to place a wreath on the grave of one of the founding fathers of the state of Israel, Theodor Herzl, was a gesture that carried major symbolic and political value, a further recognition of the bond between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel,” the embassy said.
