Pope John Paul II gestures as he talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (L) during their meeting at the PM's Guest House at the Mount of Beatitudes Sanctuary March 24. The Pope held a 15-minute private meeting with Barak at a guesthouse run by Roman Catholic nuns on the Mount of Beatitudes. It was their second encounter in two days after a moving ceremony on Thursday at Israel's Holocaust memorial where the Pope mourned the six million Jews exterminated by the Nazis. Barak hailed the Pope's visit as of "immense historic importance" for reconciliation between Christians and Jews and said it would aid Israel's efforts to make peace with the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon.

VP/JDP