The Western Wall is the only fragment of the Great Temple to survive destruction by the Romans, and is the most sacred structure to the Jewish people. According to a brochure distributed at the Western Wall Plaza by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, the wall “is a focus of Jewish longing and prayer for redemption and renewal.”
[slideshow] The Western Wall welcomes all, as the prophet Isaiah called the Temple a “house for all nations” (Is 56:7). The same brochure says, “Even with the Temple destroyed, the holiness of the place remains sacred and, for Jews, central, with every generation facing it in prayer. Today people from all over the world converge here to see, feel and pray, and to wedge notes, requests and pleas between its timeless stones.”
Bishop Denis J. Madden, auxiliary of Baltimore, and the 23 priests with him on pilgrimage these two weeks took time Oct. 15 to pay their respects at the Western Wall and to bring their prayers to this holy place.
Pope John Paul II visited the Wall in March 2000 and Pope Benedict XVI visited in May 2009. – Jerusalem, Oct. 15, 2010