Pope visits mosque

DAMASCUS, MAY 6. John Paul II became the first Pope to set foot in a mosque today, as he entered the Omayyad mosque in Damascus on his historic visit to Syria to the cheers from the crowd.

He passed into the courtyard of the mosque, which was built on the site of a church in 705 A.D. and contains the tomb of Saint John the Baptist.

As the ornate doors were closed behind him, he went to a side room where he removed his shoes as the faith requires and was given an introduction to the mosque by officials.

Wearing white slippers and leaning on a cane, he then crossed the courtyard towards the prayer hall where the tomb of the Baptist, venerated by Muslims and Christians alike, is located. He spent around a minute with head bowed in meditation at the tomb.

His visit to the mosque, built on a site charged with history going back 5,000 years, was a high point of his four-day visit to Syria, as part of his three-nation pilgrimage following in the footsteps of St. Paul.

He became the first pope to venture into a mosque on Sunday, stepping across a sensitive line on a trip that has brought to the forefront his long-standing campaign to encourage better relations among followers of different faiths.

The visit to the mosque in the old walled city at the heart of the modern Damascus had been controversial from the start.

Some Syrians had questioned whether the Pope was trying to claim the site back for Christianity, evoking centuries-old conflict between Muslims and Europeans.

Just outside the mosque compound is the tomb of Salaheddin al- Ayoubi, or Saladin, who led the Muslim armies that wrested Jerusalem from Christian crusaders in the 12th century. A planned joint Muslim-Christian prayer at the mosque was canceled, apparently because of fears of wounding Muslim sensitivities.

But many Muslims welcomed the visit. Banners outside the mosque also referred to the Arab-Israeli conflict: ``There will be no peace without a peace based on justice.''

The Pope followed up his mosque visit with a call for both Muslims and Christians to ``turn to one another with feelings of brotherhood and friendship, so that the Almighty may bless us with the peace which heaven alone can give.''

In his own speech after touring the mosque with John Paul, Muslim leader, Kuftaro, took up a theme that has become familiar since the Pope arrived Friday: Syrian calls for Christians to line up with Muslims against ``Jews and Zionists.'' Accusing Israel of attacking Palestinians and destroying their homes, the mufti called on the West to take ``a stand that is more than just decisions, prayers and wishes ... in order to stop this brutal massacre against the children of Christ and Muhammad.''

- AFP

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