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$.50 PER ISSUE remailed the entiri A Mother’s reflec lakelymilestone —page 3 Pope’s trip to Greece, Syria reaches across centuries of division By John Thavis Damascus, Syria (CNS) O n a pilgrimage highlighted by bold ecumeni cal and interreligious gestures, Pope John Paul II reached across centuries of division to Orthodox Christians in Greece and Muslims in Syria. In Greece May 4-5, the pope issued a dramatic apology for past treatment of the Orthodox and said it was time to “heal the wounds” that have divided Eastern and Western churches for nearly 1,000 years. Vatican and Orthodox officials called the visit an ecumenical breakthrough. In Syria May 6, he became the first pope in his tory to enter a mosque, where he was warmly greeted by his Muslim hosts. He said Christianity and Islam should forever put aside conflict and ask forgiveness for past offenses. The pope was tracing the footsteps of Saint Paul, and he encouraged the minority Catholic commu nities in Greece and Syria to follow the Apostle’s example in combining evangelization and dia logue. He said Saint Paul had approached the ancient peoples of the region on their own cultural terms 2,000 years ago, launching the church’s uni versal mission. The pope, who turns 81 later in May, appeared tired as he labored through receptions and liturgies during the first three days of his May 4-9 pilgrim age, which also was to take him to Malta, the site of Saint Paul’s shipwreck on his way to martyrdom in Rome. But the pontiff was clearly buoyed by the appar ent success of his first two stops and the welcome he received—cordial in Greece and enthusiastic in Syria. “It has gone beyond our expectations. The pope is very pleased,” Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Vails said at mid-trip. The pope arrived in Greece with little fanfare and a pilgrim’s humble demeanor. He made his biggest ecumenical impact with a unilateral apolo gy on behalf of Catholics, delivered in front of the head of the Orthodox Church in Greece, Arch bishop Christodoulos of Athens. “For the occasions past and present, when sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by action or omission against their Orthodox brothers and sisters, may the Lord grant us the for- Pope John Paul II waves as he arrives at the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus May 6. As he stepped inside the mosque, he became the first Catholic pontiff ever to visit a Muslim house of worship. Among the especially painful memories for the Orthodox, he said, was the “disastrous” sacking of Constantinople by Western Crusaders in 1204. Constantinople, today the city of Istanbul in Turkey, was the center of the Eastern church in Greece at the time. “It is tragic that the assailants, who had set out to Oops! If you thought you were seeing double last week, you weren’t. Chalker Publishing inadvertently reprinted the previous week’s front and back pages of The Southern Cross (May 3). When the error — ciously reprinted and bers. E secure free access for Christians to the Holy Land, turned against their own brothers in the faith. The fact that they were Latin Christians fills Catholics with deep regret,” he said. The pope followed his strong mea culpa state ment with a call to turn the page, saying the time had come for Christians to put aside rancor over past injustices and “walk together.” At the end of the day, Archbishop Christodoulos prayed the Our Father with the pope and called his visit the start of “a new era” between the churches. The archbishop flew to Moscow the next day for talks with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II, a coincidence Vatican officials found promising. The pope visited the Areopagus, the Athens hill side where Saint Paul first preached to the Greeks, and venerated an icon of the apostle. He called Paul a model for the church and a special inspira tion to his own papacy. Throughout his stay, he lauded Greek culture and encouraged the country’s new role as a member of the European Community. He met with Greek Pre sident Konstantinos Stephanopoulos and other ministers, who said they were pleased that anti pope demonstrations earlier in the week had run out of steam by the time the pope arrived. Before leaving for Syria, the pope celebrated a low-key Mass with 18,000 Catholics in an Athens basketball arena, on a small altar placed on one end of the court. The simple liturgy seemed de signed to assure Greeks that the pope’s visit had no triumphal aims. The visit to the Umayyad Great Mosque in Da mascus marked a milestone in Christian-Muslim relations, and in a talk to Muslims the pope urged others to take note of the historic event. “It is my ardent hope that Muslim and Christian religious leaders and teachers will present our two great religious communities as communities in respectful dialogue, never more as communities in conflict,” he said. “It is crucial for the young to be taught the ways of respect and understanding, so that they will not be led to misuse religion itself to promote or justi fy hatred or violence,” he said. The pope, who greeted the Muslim leaders with the Arabic expression, As-salamu alaikum (“Peace be with you”), received long applause and a warm reception from dozens of imams and other Islamic (Continued on page i. exceeds goaf —pages 6-7 \G°J