wfn.org | Pontiff expected to plant olive tree for peace

[JerusalemRelOrgs@aol.com]

Pope John Paul II to meet Muslim leaders during Damascus visit

Contact:  Fr. Raed Awad Abusahlia
P.O.Box 14152  Jerusalem  91141
Tel.  (972 2) 628.2323 / 627.2280
Fax  (972 2) 627.1652
Personal E-mail: nonviolence@writeme.com
Latin Patriarchate E-mail: Latinpat@actcom.co.il
Latin Patriarchate's Homepage: http://www.Lpj.org
"Nonviolence Homepage": http://go.to/nonviolence

JERUSALEM, April 1, 2001-- Pope John Paul II will celebrate an open air Mass, 
meet with Islamic leaders and Syria's president, and perhaps travel to the 
Golan Heights when he visits Syria next month. 

According to Melkite Archbishop Izdor Battikha, of Damascus, the Holy Father 
will meet Muslim religious leaders at the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, the 
first visit of its kind in history.

The Pope is not expected to pray with the Muslim leaders.

Plans for the visit include a brief stop at the the tomb of St. John the 
Baptist where the head of St. John is believed to rest. 

The Pope will begin the May 5-8 trip with a meeting with President Bashar 
al-Assad at Damascus' airport.  He will also celebrate Mass at the Abbassiyen 
sports stadium with some of the estimated 16 percent of the country's 
population of 17 million who are Christian. 

Saying that all patriarchs of the region would be invited to participate, 
including Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir of the Maronite Catholic Church in Lebanon 
who has been critical of Syria's presence there, Archbishop Battikha said he 
did not expect the Holy Father to publicly mention Syria's control over its 
neighbor. 

The Russian Itar-Tass news agency also announced that the Pope will visit 
el-Kunaitra, a town in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights that was returned to 
Syria as 
part of peace talks.  The Holy Father will plant an olive tree for peace in 
the town which is symbolic of the intractable disagreements separating Israel 
and its 
neighbors. 

-end-