World

Historic Papal Visit

May 9, 1999 / 11:43 PM EDT / AP

Pope John Paul II pushed ahead Sunday with efforts to break down barriers that divide Christianity, calling on Orthodox Christians in Romania to "exchange the embrace of peace."

In the first visit by a Roman pontiff to a mainly Orthodox country in nearly 1,000 years, the pope embraced Romania's Orthodox patriarch and declared the time has come to put "every form of fear and suspicion" between their churches behind them.

The pope's three-day trip to Romania was also seen as a launching pad for John Paul's ambitious plans: a meeting with the patriarch of Russia, leader of the largest Orthodox church, and a trip to Moscow.

"The first time is always the hardest," papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said Sunday.

The Romania trip "had more than opened the door" for better relations with Moscow, he said. "It's a breakthrough."

But he said there were still no concrete plans for a meeting with Moscow Patriarch Alexy II, who torpedoed a planned meeting with the pope at the last minute two years ago.

In a significant gesture by John Paul, Romanian Patriarch Teoctist announced the pope contributed an unspecified amount of money for construction of a massive Orthodox basilica in Bucharest.

Orthodox clergy have frequently accused the Vatican of spending its money to build its own churches and to convert Orthodox believers.

Some 100,000 people filled Union Square in the heart of Bucharest for the Orthodox service, the first such open-air service by the Orthodox church here. Most attending were Orthodox, but there were small groups of Catholics scattered in the crowd.

Later in the day, Patriarch Teoctist attended a Roman Catholic Mass in a park, the pope's last public event before returning to Rome. At least 200,000 people turned out, most coming to Bucharest from Catholic areas in northern Transylvania.

In his afternoon homily, the pope said that until recently it would have been "unthinkable" for a Roman pontiff to visit Romania. "Today, after a long winter of suffering and persecution, we can finally exchange the embrace of peace and together praise the Lord."

At the end of the Mass, John Paul invited the Romanian patriarch to visit him at the Vatican. Hearing these words, the crowd responded, shouting repeatedly: "Unity! Unity!"

Dozens of people passed out from heat exhaustion and not eating, doctors said. Others sung and murmured prayers, and a wooden fence collapsed as people surged forward to get a better view of the pope.

John Paul's trip was the first by a Roman pontiff to a mainly Orthodox country since the Eastern church definitively broke from Rome in the Great Schism of 1054.

The Polish-born pope, who will be 79 on May 18, has made reconciliation among Christians a principal goal for the start of Christianity's third millennium.

"I express the hope that Christians will find themselvesif not fully united, closer to full communion," the pope said earlier in the day.

In line with John Paul's frequent calls for Christians to recognize their sins of the past, the patriarch said Christians must recognize their responsibilities "for the suffering, the madness and the mistakes that they have provoked in the world over the centuries."

The 84-year-old patriarch, wearing white robes and a Byzantine miter, presided at the Divine Liturgy. John Paul followed the liturgy seated on the altar, then addressed the crowd at the end.

John Paul, weakened by ailments over the years, leaned on his silver staff for support during the 3 1/2-hour service. He walked away slowly, giving his blessing as the crowd waved tiny Romanian and Vatican flags, but appeared to be bearing up. He departed for Rome on Sunday night.

At the start of Sunday's service, Orthodox priests prayed for an end to the war in nearby Kosovo and for the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians who have been forced to flee their homes.