-Caveat Lector- Pope's Romania Tour Seen As Historic By VICTOR L. SIMPSON .c The Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope John Paul II will break through another iron curtain Friday when he begins a three-day trip to Romania, the first visit by a pope to a country where Orthodox Christians predominate. Not since the Great Schism of 1054, when the Eastern church definitively split from Rome, has a pope made such a trip. The Vatican is attaching particular symbolic importance to it. ``We are talking centuries here,'' said papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls. ``The overused word 'historic' certainly applies.'' The Vatican, with bigger things in mind, has made a considerable concession. John Paul's stay will be limited to Bucharest, the capital, keeping him from Transylvania in the north, where a most of Romania's Catholics live. Romanian authorities feared a stop there could stir up religious passions. But hundreds of thousands of Catholics, made up largely of Romania's Hungarian minority, were expected to reach the capital on special trains and buses to greet the pope during his three-day stay. The trip is part of John Paul's drive for reconciliation among the various Christian denominations with the nearing of 2000, the start of Christianity's third millennium. As John Paul has put it on several occasions, the church ``must learn to breathe again with its two lungs -- the Eastern one and the Western one.'' The Vatican also hopes the trip can open the way to a meeting with Russian Patriarch Alexy II and a possible trip to Moscow. Only 5 percent of Romania's 22 million people are Catholic while 87 percent are at least nominally Orthodox. Tensions between Catholics and Orthodox have come out into the open since the fall of communism, particularly with the re-emergence of Eastern-rite Catholic churches, which retain Orthodox-style liturgy but are loyal to the pope. In Romania, as elsewhere in the Orthodox world, Eastern-rite Catholics are seeking the return of churches and other property that had been given to the Orthodox by the communists. In turn, the Orthodox accuse the Catholics of poaching for converts. Two ecumenical services underline efforts by both sides to show their good will. John Paul will attend a Divine Liturgy Sunday morning presided over by Orthodox Patriarch Teoctist. That afternoon, before returning to Rome, the pope will celebrate Mass in a Bucharest park with the patriarch attending the service. The Romania trip, John Paul's 86th foreign tour, opens up a busy travel season for the pope, who will turn 79 on May 18. He will return to his native Poland for two weeks in June and then make a three-day trip to Armenia in July. An Asian trip is also in the works later this year. Most foreign travel is expected to be put on hold next year, when John Paul will preside over yearlong millennium celebrations in Rome. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
