World

Pope Reaches Out To Orthodox

November 5, 1999 / 4:41 AM EST / AP

Pope John Paul II began a two-day visit Monday to Georgia as part of his drive to Â"build new bridgesÂ" with the Orthodox church, a chief Vatican goal for the new millennium.

Strong winds sent his white robes billowing as he slowly walked down the stairs from an Air India jetliner upon arriving from New Delhi, where he presided over a meeting of Asian bishops.

The pope waved to the waiting crowd as he emerged from the plane. The Caucasus Mountains loomed in the background as a military band played welcoming fanfares and schoolchildren sang hymns in Georgian and Latin.

Awaiting him were Patriarch Ilia II, the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and President Eduard Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister praised by John Paul for the events that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall 10 years ago.

Shevardnadze said the pope's visit could help promote peace in the region by encouraging tolerance. Georgia shares a border with Chechnya, where Russian forces are battling Islamic insurgents.

The pope and the patriarch embraced before heading for the headquarters of the Georgian Orthodox Church for formal talks. The pope said he was convinced Â"we must build new bridges so that with one heart and mind Christians may together proclaim the Gospel to the world.Â"

The frail 79-year-old pope, no longer able to bend down and kiss the ground as he once did upon arriving in a country for the first time, blessed a basket of Georgian earth held up by two children.

He then reviewed a military honor guard while four cardinals stood behind him as buffers against the wind in a chilly afternoon.

Welcoming his Roman Catholic guest, Shevardnadze said Â"the Georgian people never lost their faith in GodÂ" during the long years of communist rule.

The patriarch, however, spoke of the political advantages of the papal visit, noting that Georgia is seeking to strengthen its ties to Europe.

Some in the Georgian church opposed the pope's visit as part of general suspicions over Vatican missionary activity in formerly communist lands that were traditionally Orthodox.

Only in May did John Paul make the first visit of his 21-year papacy to a predominantly Orthodox country, a trip to Romania that the Vatican hailed as a success.

The pope is hoping that the visit to Georgia and continued contacts can lead to a trip to Moscow, which up to now has been vetoed by the Moscow patriarch.

John Paul, in his arrival remarks, acknowledged there had also been tensions with the Georgian church, but added that Â"the awareness of a common Christian vocation has never faded completely.Â"