Amman, Jordan, May 10, 2009 / 10:32 am
Two new church cornerstones were blessed by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday evening at the place where the Bible says Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
At around 5 p.m. on Sunday, after having celebrated a two and a half hour Mass earlier in the day, Pope Benedict traveled to the site where Jesus was baptized, accompanied by Jordan's King Abdullah II and his wife Queen Rania.
Just across the narrow Jordan River, another site claims to be the location of Jesus' baptism. But Pope Benedict visited the Jordanian site and blessed cornerstones for two new Catholic churches—one Latin Rite and the other Greek Melkite.
In a speech prior to the blessing ceremony, the Holy Father explained the symbolism of the cornerstones, saying, “The foundation stone of a church is a symbol of Christ. The Church rests on Christ, is sustained by him and cannot be separated from him.”