JERUSALEM — A visibly moved Archbishop Timothy Dolan toured Israel’s Holocaust Museum Tuesday in his most emotional stop yet in the Holy Land. Dolan appeared deep in thought as he walked through Yad Vashem, taking in the poignant photographs and pausing at a solitary candle in the Hall of Remembrance to say a quiet prayer for the millions who died. When asked how he felt walking through the Jerusalem museum, Dolan turned to the words the late Pope John Paul II used during his visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1979. “He said in the face of this horror, the only appropriate response is silence,” the leader of New York’s Catholics said. “I would agree with his wisdom - I would not know what to say.” Dolan was joined by 50 priests from the New York Archdiocese who have accompanied him on his eight-day pilgrimage to Israel, which began at the Sea of Galilee and included the most holy sites in Christianity and Judaism. Earlier Tuesday, Dolan led morning mass at the site where Jesus was crucified and buried. He conducted the 6 a.m. prayers at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, using the time to reflect on his faith and the duties that lie ahead of him when he’s elevated to cardinal in February. “Visiting the empty tomb is a powerful reminder of our eternal destiny, that all of us will rise again,” Dolan said. “Being here reminds us of the flesh and blood and suddenly God has name and a face.” “[I\] need prayers and can't think of a better place than here in which to do that,” Dolan added. “As I look forward to the new responsibilities that are ahead of me, I am aware of my place and my humility before God.” Following Mass, Dolan and his entourage traveled on their tour bus to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where Jesus is believed to have been born. The group said prayers together during the journey and a more celebratory and jovial mood returned. “First we visited the place of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection and then we visited his birthplace. We’re doing it all backwards,” New York’s future cardinal quipped. Dolan said this visit to the Holy Land — his fifth — reminded him of his first trip to the region in 1979, when he was a 29-year-old graduate student and attended midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity. “Being here again brings back those memories and it's very moving,” he explained. “Being here [in Bethlehem\] where it all started, where the Holy Infant was born, is indescribable.” “[There are\] different feelings and levels of intensity in Holy Sepulcher and Church of Nativity,” he added. “In the first, the feeling is tempered by Calvary and the constant reminder of what happened three days before and the passion [as opposed to\] the Nativity, where the feeling is also connected to family and childhood and good memories.” While in Bethlehem, Dolan visited the city’s university which receives funding from Catholic groups in New York. He was given a tour, met with students and watched a move about the facility’s achievements. Bethlehem University held a lunch for the group. Joining them was Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most prominent religious leader in the Church of England. He and Dolan disappeared behind closed doors for a private chat in the middle of the meal. The tour then briefly shopped in Bethlehem before returning to Jerusalem. Dolan said his visit to the Holocaust Museum was an unmissable stop on the pilgrimage and showed his solidarity with fellow believers and Jews. “I remember as a kid, after learning about the war I asked: ‘Dad, how could this happen?’” he said. “Being a historian, for me history’s greatest lesson is not to repeat mistakes.” Dolan returns to New York at the end of the week and will spend time Wednesday meeting in private with Christian leaders. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/archbishop-timothy-dolan-mass-jerusalem-heads-bethlehem-article-1.1014508#ixzz1l7bnANLb