Bulgaria’s Orthodox Christian Monks Welcome John Paul

Pope John Paul II was given a warm welcome by Orthodox Christian monks and Bulgaria’s prime minister at this nation’s greatest monastery Saturday, as he pushed forward an effort to ease centuries of tension between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic faiths.

“Eastern monasticism ... constitutes a great gift for the whole church,” John Paul told Orthodox leaders at the Rila monastery, a mountain sanctuary that played a key role in the preservation of Bulgarian culture during centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule.

The Orthodox Church in many countries has been cool to John Paul’s overtures for greater unity, but Bishop John, head of the Rila monastery, welcomed him with an endorsement of the idea that the rift can be healed.

“The split between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches has been ongoing for 10 centuries,” said John, the Orthodox host. “But what is 10 centuries when ... in God’s eyes, 1,000 years is like yesterday? The walls of separation do not reach heaven. Like any other work of man, they are temporary. They have been built by men, and men will be the ones to pull them down.”

John Paul’s four-day visit to Bulgaria, during which he is stressing his respect for the Orthodox faith, is seen as a possible steppingstone to better Vatican ties with the large and influential Russian Orthodox Church.

One of the pontiff’s greatest wishes is to visit Russia. But within the Orthodox Church, hard-liners view Catholicism as heresy. Orthodox leaders in Russia have blocked a papal tour partly out of fear that the Catholic Church wishes to convert Orthodox believers.

In any case, the possibilities for John Paul, 82, to continue his extensive travels much longer might be limited by his frailty, which has been highly visible on this trip. The pope suffers from Parkinson’s disease that has left his hands trembling and his speech often slurred. While here, he has delivered only small portions of his speeches himself, turning to aides to read the remainder for him.

A senior Orthodox leader, Metropolitan Simeon, suggested Saturday that long trips might soon be beyond the pope’s capabilities.

“His mission is his desire, but I think the people around him should tell him to stop,” Simeon said. “Who among us could do what he is doing? No one but him. He is suffering like Christ.”

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls noted Saturday that “the condition of the pope is visible to all.”

“He will continue to travel within these limitations,” Navarro told reporters. “The pope notes the big show of affection wherever he goes, and this encourages him.”

John Paul is to visit Canada, Mexico and Guatemala in July and his native Poland in August. The Vatican has also said he might visit Croatia in September.

John Paul met at the monastery with Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the former King Simeon II, who reigned as a child and returned from exile last year to form a party that won parliamentary elections. The pontiff paid respects at the grave of the prime minister’s father, King Boris III, which is at the monastery.

In his meeting with Orthodox leaders, John Paul appeared to allude to the sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church. Monks wage a daily battle against “the evil suggestions that the demon tries to plant in their hearts,” and this “art” of “spiritual combat” should be “taught anew ... to all Christians today,” he said. “More than ever in the lives of Christians today, idols are seductive and temptations are unrelenting.”

John Paul traveled to and from the monastery by helicopter, then met later in the day with the leader of Bulgaria’s Muslim community and with local Catholics. There are just 80,000 Catholics in this predominantly Orthodox nation of 8 million people.

When John Paul greeted well-wishers from his bulletproof popemobile, Vatican security guards picked up toddlers in the crowd and handed them up to receive a kiss from the pontiff.

The pope also greeted and embraced an elderly priest who had spent more than 20 years imprisoned by Bulgaria’s former Communist government.

The chief mufti of Bulgaria’s Muslims, Selim Mumun Mehmed, said in an interview before meeting the pontiff that after nearly half a century of Communist propagation of unbelief, John Paul’s visit would help reawaken faith in all religions in Bulgaria, including Islam.

“Today, the pope is carrying out a crusade for peace, forgiveness and mutual understanding,” Mehmed said. “We highly appreciate his words about Islam. I think John Paul has found the most correct way to people’s souls. There may never again be another pope like him.”