Gimme a break

Tree blessed by PJP2 is the only one to blossom

Tel Aviv- A tree blessed eight years ago by Pope John Paul II during his visit to the Holy Land was the only one in its plot of land to produce olives this year, a Jewish National Fund official said. "It is a miracle," Yossi Karni from the JNF, which maintains the plot, told local media.

During a visit to northern Israel, near the Sea of Galilee, John Paul blessed a tree that was planted on the Mount of Beatitudes, where according to Christian beliefs Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount.

Karni noted that all the trees on the plot were treated equally, but the ones that did not receive the blessing have not given fruit this year.

"They get treated the same, watered the same," he said, adding that some trees had even started to wither, which he could not explain.

When asked what he would do with the olives, Karni, with a wry smile, told Israel's Channel 10 he might market their "holy oil."