•Papal visit to Israel slated for next year
Middleweight world champion Sergio Martínez has met Pope Francis at the Vatican. The Argentinian boxer went to the Pope's weekly General Audience at the weekend and gave him a replica of the WBC champion belt he won in September last year. It is believed that he spoke with the Pontiff about his It Gets Better anti- bullying campaign.
Prior to the meeting Martinez, 38, said: "In the past couple of months, I will have had two of my dreams as a Catholic come true, to visit the Basilica of our Lady Guadalupe in Mexico and to be received by the Pope. I will be asking the Pope for blessings and spiritual protection to all of those who enter the ring."
Martinez is currently ranked as the fifth best boxer in the world in The Ring magazine's pound-for-pound rankings and has won 51 of his 55 professional fighting, drawing twice and losing twice.
As part of his anti-bullying campaigning, in 2012 Martinez mentored a 14-year-old girl called Monique Mc- Clain, from Midtown, USA, who had to move schools due to the severe bullying she was suffering. Martinez offered her advice on how to cope with the bullies and dedicated his victory over Sergiy Dzinziruk to her.
Meanwhile, the Pope has plans to visit Israel as soon as next year, the Vatican said, in what could be a landmark visit for a pontiff who has already won plaudits from the Jewish community for his strong condemnation of anti-Semitism.
Over the weekend, the pope also met at the Vatican with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who invited him to visit Palestine as well. Israeli President Shimon Peres had already extended an invitation to the pope to visit the Holy Land shortly after the pontiff 's election in March.
Following the invitation from Mr. Abbas, "we can now start thinking in a more concrete way regarding the planning of the visit," said Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi, adding that it could take place in 2014.
A papal trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories would follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis's predecessors, Benedict XVI and John Paul II. Both sought to promote Christian reconciliation with Judaism as emphasized in the key 1962-65 Second Vatican Council and do away with any vestiges of anti-Semitism after centuries of ambiguity within the church. A visit by Pope Francis, who has so far made only one overseas trip since his appointment, could advance that dialogue.
"We can see the steady and ongoing commitment of the Catholic Church on improving Catholic-Jewish relations," said Chad Pecknold, assistant professor of theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC. During his young papacy, Pope Francis has reached out to the Jewish community on several fronts.
Last week, he met with members of Rome's Jewish community to mark the 70th anniversary of the start of deportations of Italian Jews from Rome to Nazi concentration camps during the German occupation of Italy.
On Oct. 16, 1943, more than 1,000 Roman Jews were deported. Only 16 returned home. "For many centuries...the Jewish community and the Church of Rome have lived in our city, with a history as we well know—that was often traversed by misunderstandings and even true grievances," Pope Francis said at the meeting. This week, the Vatican also banned churches in Rome from holding a funeral for Erich Priebke, a former German commander who played a role in a wartime massacre of Italian partisans and civilians. Mr. Priebke's arrest, and subsequent conviction and life sentence, was an important milestone for Rome's 2,000-year old Roman Jewish community.
"It's a contradiction for a Christian to be anti-Semitic: His roots are Jewish," the pope said last week. The pope's visit to the Holy Land would also forward his appeal for peace in the Middle East.
"Pope Francis has already been very clear about his priority for the poor, the marginalized, the suffering and the oppressed of the world," said Scott Appleby, director of the University of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. "His focus (in the trip to the Holy Land) will be on the human toll of the conflict."
Source: Boxing champion meets Pope Francis (http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/boxing-champion-meets-pope-francis/)