Friday April 27 7:57 AM ET
Pope in Syria to Retread Road to Damascus

By Samia Nakhoul

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Pope John Paul will retread the steps of St. Paul on the road to Damascus next week when he goes to Syria, a country that has produced six popes over the centuries but has never been visited by one.

Syrian workers are busy giving a facelift to the historic Old City which the 80-year-old Pontiff will tour during his May 5-8 visit and which, like the Old City of Jerusalem, contains all faiths within its walls and columns.

``We have sent six Syrian popes to Rome but we never received a pope. It is the first such visit by a pope to Syria,'' Syrian Catholic Bishop Izodore Battikha told Reuters in an interview.

A personal highlight for the Pope will be retracing the steps of St. Paul who, according to Biblical scripture, miraculously converted to Christianity while traveling to Damascus.

In the Old City he will visit St. Paul's chapel which is said to mark the spot where Paul -- until then a persecutor of Christians -- was smuggled out in a basket to avoid capture by Jews angry at his conversion.

Another high point will be a visit to the magnificent Umayyad mosque where he will meet Muslim clerics for a rare encounter with the Islamic world.

The mosque sums up much of the complexity and continuity of Syrian history. It was built on a pagan temple which was converted to a Christian church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist after the adoption of Christianity as the imperial religion.

For the first 70 years after the seizure of Damascus by the Arabs in 639, the Church of St. John the Baptist remained the main Christian place of worship. For a time, Christians shared the extensive compound with Muslim worshippers whose prayers were oriented toward the south wall facing the holy city of Mecca.

Tradition has it that the head of Saint John the Baptist, said to have been beheaded on Herod's instructions at the request of Salome, lies under one of the pillars in the prayer halls of the mosque.

Half a million faithful are expected to attend the Pope's mass which will be held at Damascus's national stadium. Christians are expected to pour in from Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, Battikha said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will greet the Pontiff at the airport and will have a private audience with him at the presidential palace.

Boost For Syria's Image

Battikha said that Syrians -- Muslims and Christians -- have high expectations that the visit will improve Syria's tarnished image in the world.

``His visit is very important to the Syrian people. They expect a lot from this visit because the information about Syria is very wrong outside,'' he said.

``We have to profit from this visit to show the world the reality of Syria, how we are living together as Muslims and Christians, how Christianity exists in Syria, how we have expectations for peace,'' Battikha said.

Syria is still on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism for hosting radical Islamist and Palestinian groups that have been responsible for attacks against Israeli and Western targets.

The Pope will say a prayer for peace when he visits the Syrian city of Quneitra, which was destroyed by Israeli troops before they withdrew under a U.S.-negotiated disengagement agreement after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

He will plant an olive tree as a symbol of peace.

Israel occupied the western side of the Golan Heights in the 1967 war and its radar posts perched on the highest peak now dominate the landscape overlooking the rich agricultural land sloping away into Syria. Pope John Paul's trip is highly significant for the Arab Catholic Church in Syria which needs his moral support as it continues to practice its faith in an Islamic-dominated environment, Battikha said.

``We are a special mission here and we need a special support from his Holiness,'' he said.

Battikha said the Christian community, which accounts for up to 14 percent of Syria's 17 million people, faced no discrimination. But he said there were ``some difficulties which any small community living with a large majority might encounter.''

The Syrian constitution is unique among the constitutions of Arab states with a clear Muslim majority in not enshrining Islam as the religion of the state. It has a reputation also for insisting on Muslim-Christian religious tolerance.

The Pontiff will have a special message for Christian youths, urging them not to emigrate from Syria but to stay and continue the Christian mission in the Middle East, Battikha said.

``It is a problem for both Christians and Muslims, but when the community is small the problem of emigration is really difficult and we are feeling it,'' the Bishop said.

``This visit will make a difference. The visit was like a dream for us, now it is a reality. We are very happy,'' he said.

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