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Pope John Paul II waves as he rides his popemobile under a Syrian flag, to the Roman Catholic Patriarch in Damascus on Monday. (AP)
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| By Ellis Shuman May 8, 2001 |
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Pope John Paul II completed a four-day visit to Syria today, a visit of religious significance that was overshadowed by his hosts' attempts to gain papal political support for the Syrian and Palestinian cause.
Syrian President Basher al-Assad greeted the Pope at Damascus International Airport on Saturday with a speech that connected the Palestinian plight to that of Jesus. "[The Jews] try to kill all the principles of divine faiths with the same mentality of betraying Jesus Christ and torturing Him, and in the same way that they tried to commit treachery against Prophet Mohammad," Assad said.
The Pope declined to respond to Assad's attack against
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"It is a very fitting place to pray for peace"
- Vatican spokesman on visit to Kuneitra
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Jews and opted to stick to his prepared speech in which he praised the Syrian President profusely.
The stance of Basher al-Assad didn't come as a surprise to observers. On his trip to Spain last week, the Syrian President denounced Israelis as being "more racist than the Nazis." Despite the desire of the Pope to take a personal journey honoring one of the saints whose name the pope assumed as head of the Roman Catholic Church, observers and analysts suggested that the papal visit was being manipulated by his hosts.
"We couldn't care less about the propaganda," said papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said. Speaking in Kuneitra on Monday, Navarro-Valls added, "The majority of people in Syria and the Middle East very much appreciate the Holy Father's trip and also his prayers in this symbolic city. It is a very fitting place to pray for peace."
Katsav attacks Assad's remarks
Israeli President Moshe Katsav attacked Assad's remarks on Sunday, suggesting that the young Syrian leader would be better off if he followed his late father's example of exercising self-control when criticizing Israel.
"He [Hafez Assad] was not a partner with whom we could reach peace but he did not express himself in such a careless, racist, anti-Semitic, illogical manner as that in which the current president expresses himself," Katsav said.
Katsav also called upon the Vatican "to respond to Assad's remarks and to correct his historic mistake."
Wayne Firestone, director of the Anti-Defamation League's Israel office, said that the organization was "deeply upset at the show that was staged for the pope, who is on record as working for the reconciliation between Jews and Christians." Firestone added that Assad's "repugnant accusations that Jews murdered Christ" attempted to mix religion with politics in an already volatile situation.
Pope attempts to bring Christians, Muslims and Jews together
The pope's visit to Syria was also marked by the pontiff's attempts to bring members of the region's three great religions closer together to take action to bring about peace. "In this holy land, Christians, Muslims and Jews are called to work together with confidence and boldness and to work to bring about without delay the day [of peace]," the pope said at a Sunday mass for some 50,000 Christians in Damascus.
On Sunday John Paul II made history by becoming the first pontiff to enter a mosque. The pope visited the Great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, a site considered holy to Christians due to its memorial to St John the Baptist.
"For all the times that Muslims and Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness from the Almighty and to offer each other forgiveness," the pope said in his address to Muslim leaders.
Syrian religious leader launches another attack on Israel
Syria's highest religious leader, Mufti Ahmad Kaftaro, used his speech to make yet another Syrian attack on Israel.
Kaftaro urged "the Catholic church all over the world with his holiness the pope at its head and the Christian governments of the West to stand in support of justice and put pressure on Israel by every means to curb its atrocious aggression."
The pope later referred to the leaders of Syria when he prayed on Monday in Kuneitra on the Golan Heights.
"In a special way we pray for the leaders of this noble land of Syria. Grant them wisdom, farsightedness and perseverance; may they never yield to discouragement in their challenging task of building the lasting peace for which their people yearn."
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