Pope John Paul announced yesterday he will make his first visit to Syria this year and confirmed he will visit Ukraine despite differences with the biggest Orthodox Church in the former Soviet republic.
The Pope made his announcement at a service at the Basilica of St Paul in Rome to mark Church Unity Week. He told representatives of 20 Orthodox and Protestant churches he wanted this year's trips to Syria and Ukraine to "contribute to reconciliation and peace among Christians".
"My expectations for the trips that will take me to Syria and Ukraine are great," he said.
It was the first time there had been official Vatican confirmation of the trip to Syria, which is expected to take place at the end of April or the beginning of May. He will also most likely visit Malta as part of the same trip.
Pope John Paul wants to visit Syria, Greece and Malta to follow in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul, who was known as Saul of Tarsus before he was converted on the road to Damascus - an event commemorated in church calendars on January 25th. St Paul preached in Athens, Corinth and Malta before arriving in Rome, and is believed to have died in or around AD 64.
During a meeting at the Vatican earlier this week, President Costis Stephanopoulos invited the Pope to visit Greece. The Greek Orthodox Church initially opposed the Pope's trip, but in December changed its position. However, a senior Greek Orthodox bishop said yesterday that the time was not right for Pope John Paul to visit Greece. "Conditions are not ripe for inviting the Pope as head of the church," Bishop Theoclitos, a close aide to Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, told Skai Radio.
The Orthodox Church has accused the Catholic Church of stealing its members and of encouraging the spread of nationalism in the Balkans, particularly in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Authoritative Vatican sources said last year that the Pope could visit Syria in April after the Orthodox Easter which this year falls on April 22nd.
Ukraine's biggest church has asked the Pope to delay his visit from June 23rd to 27th, saying it could anger the nation's diverse Christian groups. But the Vatican says the trip will go ahead as planned.