Pope's followers kept at arm's length by Greek Orthodox monks

SAINT CATHERINE'S MONASTERY, Egypt, Feb 26, (AFP) -

Orthodox monks met Pope John Paul II at the gate of their monastery here Saturday with a simple welcome, as 500 hymn-singing Roman Catholic followers waited outside, barred from entering.

The pope's fans, wearing scarves bearing the pope's image and caps with the yellow and white colours of the Vatican flag, chanted as they waited for him to lead them in prayer after an hour-long tour inside the monastery's 6th century fortress walls.

The Greek Orthodox community's grey-bearded Archbishop Damianos solemnly guided John Paul II around the monastery, offering him cuttings from the flourishing bramble that is believed to be the burning bush through which God spoke to Moses.

But the absence of the Catholic crowds from the monastery's holy places was a sign of deeper tensions between the two Churches which remained below the surface during the visit that crowned a three-day papal visit to Egypt.

The pope spoke little as he listened to the archbishop, appearing as the simple pilgrim he claimed to be, taking his shoes off as required to enter one of the monastery's chapels.

With the mountains of the Sinai desert towering above, the frail 79-year-old pope descended a dozen steps to the dim candle-lit lit basilica of Saint Catherine, where he kissed the discoloured skull and hand bones of the monastery's patron saint.

One Greek monk, who asked not to be named, told AFP he considered John Paul's gesture "insulting" to the saint who was crossed off the Catholic Church's list of saints in the 1960s.

But opposition to the visit by the Catholic leader, whom the Greek Orthodox do not recognise, was not expressed in front of the Vatican delegation, though some monks said privately they would rather not have been there.

The white-clad pontiff was then seated at a table in the centre of the church where he was shown texts from the monastery's important collection of early biblical manuscripts.

Appearing tired, he interrupted the viewing, burying his head in his trembling hands as his aides knelt on either side of him in a moment of silent prayer.

The archbishop earlier told AFP the pope would not be allowed to pray inside the monastery in order not to disturb the Orthodox character of the place, but neither he nor the other monks showed any objection.

Andreos Salama, a Coptic Catholic bishop accompanying the pope, later told AFP John Paul II had been deep in prayer for the unity of the Christian Church.

In Cairo on Friday, the pope also issued an urgent invitation to the heads of other churches to bridge the centuries-old east-west Christian divide by helping him reform the papacy.

But with many Greek Orthodox Christians believing the Roman Catholic Church wants to impose its hegemony on other denominations, there was no sign such divisions would be overcome soon.

Before the pope's visit, Damianos told AFP he wanted to make it "clear to everyone" that the pope is not the leader of non-Catholic Christians.

"The pope is only the leader of a few million Christians, but he wants to make (it look) like he is leader of all," the archbishop told AFP at dinner Friday night in the monastery inn.

The Orthodox Church, which split from Rome in 1054, believes it has preserved early Christian tradition while the Catholics have gone astray by introducing new dogma on papal infallibility and other issues.

Despite their differences, the archbishop, who embraced the pope on his arrival, said after the tour he had welcomed him "with great joy," and invited him and his delegation for tea at the end of the visit.

But addressing the pope and his crowds of Catholic wellwishers outside the monastery walls under a blossoming almond tree, he did not miss the opportunity to urge the "estranged" Church of Rome to return to the "true faith."