Pavens valfart til Sinaifjellet

VATICAN (CWNews.com) - When Pope John Paul II arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai on Saturday, February 26, he surveyed a scene not much different from the one that probably confronted Moses centuries ago.

As he drove to St. Catherine's Monastery from the small airport about 10 miles away, the Holy Father looked out over the pink rock of the sandy region from which the mountain rose up into the blue Egyptian sky, marked only by a few stone cabins and the passage of a few camels. As he approached the ancient monastery, the Pope was saluted by Bedouin natives; the road was lined with banners, written in Arabic, proclaiming the people's welcome for the visiting Pontiff.

The 23 Orthodox monks of St. Catherine's greeted the Pope at the doorway to their monastery, and Archbishop Damianos, the abbot of the monastery, led John Paul to the monastery's renowned Church of the Transfiguration. There the Pope prayed over the relics of St. Catherine of Alexandria, before entering into inner "Chapel of the Burning Bush." The altar of that chapel was built in 330 AD, under the direction of St. Helen (the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine) what is traditionally believed to be the site where God called Moses to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. There the Pope again stopped to pray silently, for the space of about 12 minutes. Next the Pontiff greeted each of the monks of St. Catherine's individually, and was taken on a quick tour of the monastery's famous library of ancient manuscripts.

As the Pope continued through the monastery, about 500 people awaited him in the garden outside the building, enclosed by stone walls. When the Pope reached this garden, many members of the waiting crowd climbed onto the branches of olive trees in order to gain a better view. The crowd-- composed primarily of Coptic Catholics from the Ismayliah diocese, which covers the Suez Canal and the Sinai peninsula-- warmly applauded the Pope, and raised the now-familiar chant in English: "John Paul II, we love you." The Holy Father echoed back with his own standard reply: "John Paul II, he loves you!" After the Pope was escorted to a place underneath a small awning where he was sheltered from the sun, Archbishop Damianos delivered his formal welcoming address. The archbishop's remarks-- delivered in Greek, but translated into English for the benefit of the guests-- were warm. He spoke of his "great joy" at welcoming the successor to St. Peter, and looked forward to a time when the Christian world would again live and pray in unity. But he cautioned that "dialogue is not enough" to achieve Christian union. "One must always include the need for personal sanctity," he explained. Archbishop Damianos was also enthusiastic in his manner as he presented the Pope with several gifts. And when John Paul responded by giving the abbot a copy of the Codex Vaticanus-- a 4th-century manuscript from the Vatican collection-- Damianos beamed. "Excellent!" he said, his face radiant; "Excellent!"

However, the monks of St. Catherine's returned to their own chapel before the start of a prayer service in their monastery garden. "I will leave you to address your own people," Archbishop Damianos said, still smiling, before the monks filed back into their building.

"The monks of St. Catherine's had strict orders from the Greek Orthodox patriarchate of Jerusalem," one knowledgeable source explained to reporters. Bishop Makarios Tewfik, the Coptic Catholic leader of the region, explained: "They were to welcome the Pope very warmly, but there was never any question that they would participate in a common prayer service."

The abbot of St. Catherine's confirmed that message in comments to a reporter. "It is not permissible for us to pray together, because there are ecclesial differences between our churches," he said. "Today, union between the Greek Orthodox Church and the Church of Rome may be possible, but it might take a miracle."

Speaking then to a predominantly Catholic group, Pope John Paul spoke of the "great joy" and "deep emotion" with which he stood on Mount Sinai, where "God revealed himself" and began to teach his people the moral law. The Ten Commandments, he continued, constitute "the law of life and of freedom."

The freedom toward which God's law leads mankind, the Pope continued, is not intended to allow man to indulge his passions and appetites. Rather, he said, it is "freedom to love, to chose what is good in every situation, even when this constitutes a burden." He continued: "To keep the Ten Commandments is to be faithful to God. But it is also to be faithful to ourselves, to our authentic nature and our deepest aspirations." He added that "before being written on stone, these commandments were inscribed in the heart of man as the universal moral law." As such, he argued, the commandments furnish "the only path for the human race."

While following God's commandments requires a spirit of obedience, the Holy Father continued, it is not a slavish obedience but obedience given freely. He said that Jesus came to earth so that each man could realize that, since God is his father, his behavior should be governed not by a series of rules and prescriptions but by filial love. And man should learn, he added, that God's laws are not arbitrary commands, but guidelines set forth by a loving father who cares for the welfare of his child and understands "the most urgent promptings of his heart."

After his meditation on the role of God's revealed law, the Pope concluded his remarks by reflecting on St. Catherine's monastery, saying that over the centuries it had served as "an exceptional site for meetings among peoples of different churches, traditions, and cultures." He closed with the prayer that in the new millennium, the monastery would be "an illuminating flare, calling all the churches to know each other better, and to rediscover how important it is in the eyes of God that we should be united in Christ." Despite the refusal of the Orthodox leaders to participate in an ecumenical service, Catholic leaders remained upbeat about the progress that had been made. "You have to begin with little steps as you build unity among Christians," observed Bishop Tewfik. "The presence of the Pope here (on Mount Sinai) is one, and his visit to the Holy Land will be another."

After the Pope's departure, Archbishop Damianos again told reporters that it would have been "impossible" for his Orthodox monks to join in the ecumenical service on Mount Sinai. While acknowledging that the Pope had intended an ambitious step toward Christian unity, he said: "This project was impossible to carry out, especially in an Islamic country. People would not have understood."

In his discourse on Mount Sinai, Pope John Paul-- perhaps anticipating the objection that Catholic-Orthodox dialogue in Egypt could cause misunderstandings among the Muslims of that country-- extended an invitation to religious dialogue "among the disciples of the great monotheistic religions, in their service to the human family." He pointed out that Mount Sinai was a natural location from which to issue such a call to inter-religious dialogue, since Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike agree that the mountain-- where God first made himself known in human history-- furnishes a common ground for all believers.

But ultimately, Church officials point out, the purpose of the Pope's trip to Egypt was not to make ecumenical gestures. "The Pope's intention was not to bring people together, but to make a personal pilgrimage of faith and prayer," observed Bishop Tewfik. "Maybe later there will be a reunion among religions. But for now what is most important is to show the path of pilgrimage."

Catholic World News - Feature