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At Sea of Galilee, pope walks in the shoes of the fisherman

March 26, 2000
TABGHA, Israel (CNS) -- For more than 21 years Pope John Paul II has filled the shoes of the fisherman as the 264th successor of St. Peter. On the fifth day of his Holy Land visit he walked in the footsteps of the first pope near the Sea of Galilee. On a pilgrimage March 24 to a string of sites where Jesus chose his disciples and began his preaching life, the pope had a chance to reflect on the apostle whose combination of strength and weakness has long fascinated him. Near the ancient village of Tabgha, on the shores of a misty Sea of Galilee, the pope knelt and prayed at the place where Jesus told Peter, ``Feed my lambs,'' instituting papal primacy and apostolic succession. In Capernaum a few miles away, the pope stood next to the ruins of what is traditionally held to be St. Peter's house, where Christ and his disciples would talk for hours after rounds of public preaching. For the 79-year-old pontiff, it was a visit to the center of Jesus' activities and to the roots of his own apostolic mission. At the small Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, the pope knelt and prayed before the massive rock outcropping that stretches across the altar area. Then, hobbling closer, he leaned against the stone and kissed it. A Franciscan priest read St. John's Gospel, which recounted how the risen Christ appeared to Peter and the other disciples for the last time here, directing them to a miraculous catch of fish. They ate lunch afterward on the rock, where Christ singled out Peter to lead the church. So much flows from this spot for Pope John Paul, who visited here as a bishop in 1963 and took away several rocks from the shore as souvenirs. Since his election as pope in 1978, he has strongly affirmed his role as leader of the universal church, but at the same time has invited ecumenical discussion over the future of papal primacy. Although the pope has cited Peter in recent years to illustrate how a pontiff must be willing to make decisions and take some flak, he has always seen him as much more than an authority figure. He has spoken frequently of Peter as a man of human weakness and frailty -- the man who denied Christ, who showed his limitations and defects, and who protested to Jesus at Capernaum, ``I am a sinful man.'' Father Georges Cottier, the pope's personal theologian, said the pope is absorbed by the paradox in Peter's character, which mixes human weakness and the strength of faith. ``The pope makes the point that the office (of the papacy) is not tied to the virtue of the person. On the contrary, there's an enormous contrast between Peter's task and human deficiency. This is a theme that is very, very dear to the pope's heart,'' Father Cottier said. As he has aged, the pope's words about Peter's frailty have sometimes taken on a more personal dimension. A few months ago, when his declining vigor was especially evident, the pope made a remark to Vatican officials that many saw as a response to rumors of papal retirement. ``It is with Christ's power that (Peter) could sustain his brethren, despite his own personal weakness. ... The man who, as Peter's successor, exercises this ministry can never forget this,'' the pope said. The pope began his pilgrim's expedition in good form. At one point he climbed some 30 steps to see a chapel that was not even on his itinerary. He prayed at a church built on the site where Jesus is said to have fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. In Tabgha, appearing more tired toward the end of the day, the pope looked out over the twilit waters of the Sea of Galilee, as Israeli police boats patrolled the shoreline. Then, held firmly by two aides, he took slow ministeps up a rain-slickened set of stairs. He might have remembered Christ's words of wisdom to Peter when he picked him to lead the church: ``When you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.'' In Capernaum, his last stop, the pope gazed at the stone ruins where Peter is thought to have lived, and where the Gospel says Jesus cured the apostle's mother-in-law of a fever. The city was known as ``Jesus' town,'' and was the place of several early miracles and parables. He was presented with a stone from Peter's house, and as he sat in a chair reflecting on the scene, Vatican cardinals accompanying him began singing softly, ``Tu es Petrus'' (``You are Peter.'')