Nicole Jansezian reports

The Pope at Yad Vashem. Photo credit: Government Press Office

In just a few days and perhaps without any intention, Pope Benedict XVI's "pilgrimage of peace" to Israel and the Palestinian territories was mired in controversy.

Israeli papers were awash with disappointment in the Pope's speech at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial; a Muslim cleric commandeered the podium at an interfaith dialogue and blasted Israel in an unscheduled speech; and several Muslims were arrested for distributing fliers condemning the Pontiff's visit.

And that was just in 24 hours.

The Pontiff planned this five-day trip to the Holy Land with several stated goals: to bring a message of peace between religious and ethnic groups; to encourage the dwindling Christian communities in Israel and the Palestinian territories; and to repair Catholic-Muslim and Catholic-Jewish relations. But in a land beset by division and hostility, it was a challenging mission from the outset.

"We know how uncertain the political situation is in the area, how fragile are the prospects for pacification," Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said on Vatican Radio before the visit. "But the Pope sets out all the same, with admirable courage grounded in faith, to speak about reconciliation and peace."

Several Jewish officials were hoping for more personal contrition form the German Pope's involvement in the Wermacht and an apology from the Pope for the Holocaust. After his closely watched speech on Monday at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, many Israelis expressed disappointment. Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau called the speech "a missed opportunity" without personal remorse and mention of 6 million Jews killed. Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said the Pope was detached.

But the Pope addressed these issues in his first speech when he arrived at the airport, according to Vatican Spokesman Federico Lombardi.

The welcome ceremony at the airport. Photo credit: Government Press Office

"He already named at the airport the Shoah (Holocaust) and the 6 million Jews murdered and ... anti-Semitism," Lombardi said at a news conference. "His meditation was centered on ... the engagement of the Catholic church to engage themselves forever against the crimes against humanity and the right of the peoples."

Shortly after that, the head of Sharia courts in the Palestinian Authority, Taysir Tamimi, made an animated plea to the Pope to fight for "a just peace for a Palestinian state and for Israel to stop killing women and children and destroying mosques as she did in Gaza."

"Israel destroys Palestinian cities and establishes settlements on Palestinian land," he cried in a rising voice, adding that Jerusalem "will remain the capital of a Palestinian state."

Israel's Foreign Ministry called the speech a "provocation" and said that instead of "fostering peace and co-exstistence chose to plant seeds of division and confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians and also between Jews, Muslims and Christians."

The Pope walked out after the unplanned speech without the traditional exchanging of gifts.

On Tuesday, the Pope headed out on a tour of holy sites in Jerusalem. Removing his red shoes, the Pope entered the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim shrine and part of the compound that comprises Islam's third-holiest site, the Al Aksa Mosque. A rock in the shrine is believed to be the place Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac on Mount Moriah.

The quick tour was followed by a prayer at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, directly adjacent to the mosque area. The Pontiff placed a note in the wall, as is tradition.