The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Friday consecrated a new church at a place on the banks of the Jordan River that the Catholic Church officially recognizes as the site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.
Parolin inaugurated and consecrated the Church of the Baptism of the Lord at Al-Maghtas, known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan, before thousands of Jordanians, Palestinians, other Arabs and diplomats.
“My presence here today, according to the wishes of the pope, is meant to be a tangible sign of the closeness of the whole Church to the Christian communities of the Middle East,” Parolin said in his homily, read on his behalf in Arabic by the Rev. Jihad Shweihat.
“At a time in history when this region is experiencing serious upheaval, it is important that Christians also make their contribution to the building of a just and peaceful society,” he said.
Parolin celebrated Mass, accompanied by Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. The ceremony also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Catholic Church’s annual pilgrimage to Jesus’ purported baptismal site.
Parolin also anointed the church’s altar, dedicating it as where the relics of Pope St. John Paul II and the recently canonized Holy Martyrs of Damascus and others will be placed.
Parolin’s three-day visit to Jordan coincides with a new exhibition of 90 Jordanian artifacts of the nation’s history at the start of Christianity.
The exhibition, “Jordan: Dawn of Christianity,” is to debut at the Vatican next month. It celebrates Jordan’s biblical roots through the centuries and commemorates 30 years of diplomatic ties between Jordan and the Holy See.
Jordan’s tourism and antiquities minister, Lina Annab, described the exhibition’s importance to journalists on Wednesday in Amman, saying many people outside the country do not realize that there are Jordanian Christians.
“This exhibition celebrates and sheds light on the origins and heritage as well as the enduring legacy and presence of Christianity in Jordan,” Annab said. “The origins of Christianity are here. Jordan is an integral part of the Holy Land. We are more interested in really showcasing the importance of Jordan as far as the faiths that have lived on this land, whether the Islamic faith or the Christian faith.”
Three popes have visited the believed site of Jesus’ baptism on the Jordanian banks of the Jordan River: John Paul II in 2000, Benedict XVI in 2009 and Francis in 2014. Pope Paul VI first visited Jordan in 1964.
