On Tuesday 12 May 2009, the Holy Father made a visit to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, where he prayed one of the Psalms in Latin and then placed the following prayer in a crack of the wall, in keeping with the custom of those who visit it.

God of all the ages,

on my visit to Jerusalem, the "City of Peace",

spiritual home to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike,

I bring before you the joys, the hopes and the aspirations,

the trials, the suffering and the pain of all your people throughout the world.

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

hear the cry of the afflicted, the fearful, the bereft;

send your peace upon this Holy Land, upon the Middle East,

upon the entire human family;

stir the hearts of all who call upon your name,

to walk humbly in the path of justice and compassion.

"The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul that seeks him" (Lam 3:25)!