JOHN PAUL VISITS MOUNT NEBO, SITE WHERE MOSES DIED

VATICAN CITY, MAR 20, 2000 (VIS) - Following today's arrival and welcome ceremony at Amman's Queen Alia Airport, Pope John Paul travelled by car to Mount Nebo, 42 kilometers southwest of Jordan's capital and the site where Moses died shortly after God showed him the Promised Land. He visited the ancient monastery, which has been restored, and the Moses Memorial, placed outside the sanctuary.

Moses and the People of Israel, having escaped captivity in Egypt, had spent 40 years of nomadic living in search of the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. Moses' death is recounted in Deuteronomy 34: "And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land. ... And the Lord said to him: 'This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, I will give it to your descendants. I will let you see it with your eyes but you shall not go over there'. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab."

Rising from the Transjordanian plateau, Mount Nebo's highest point is 800 meters above sea level. Two of its most significant peaks are Siyagha, 710 meters, and el-Mukhayyat at 790 meters. Mount Nebo offers a panorama embracing much of the Holy Land: to the south it extends over the Dead Sea and the Desert of Judah; to the west it embraces the Valley of the Jordan and the mountains of Judea and Samaria. Still to the west, most especially on clear days, one can also spot Bethlehem, Herod's fortress, the domes of Jerusalem and the oasis of Jericho. To the north one can view the southern slopes of the Wadi Zerqa (Blue Valley).

The Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land have been present on Mount Nebo since 1932 when, through Friar Jerome Mihaic and with the collaboration of Emir Abdallah bin al-Hussein, they acquired the summits of Siyagha and el-Mukhayyat, the former being the site of a fourth century shrine built by the Christian community in honor of Moses. It is this site which the Pope visited today.

The Jerusalem-based Studium Biblicum Franciscanum sponsored two excavations on Siyagha: the first took place between 1933 and 1937, and the second, which began in 1960, is ongoing.

The first period of excavations brought to light the fourth century basilica of Moses, built on the foundations of an earlier, classical-era basilica, the monastery of Wadi Afrit which surrounded it and five churches. The excavations and monastic restoration continue today and small groups of archaeologists and restorers from several countries come to Mount Nebo, working mainly in the summer months.

In 1932 the Franciscans built a convent on this summit to house the members of the archeological expedition as they worked. The convent area has grown over the years and is now occasionally used by the Franciscans as a retreat house. An adjacent garden and other facilities are often used by local Christian communities for days of recollection.

Pope John Paul, after a private visit to the ancient monastery, participated in a prayer service on the plains of Mount Nebo in the presence of Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land, religious authorities and members of the lay faithful.

He departed the sanctuary in mid-afternoon, returning to Amman and the apostolic nunciature. In late afternoon the Holy Father was scheduled to go to the royal palace to pay a courtesy call on King Abdallah II Bin Hussein of Jordan. Crowned king of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on February 7, 1999, following his father's death, Abdallah had previously met the Pope when he was received in Castelgandolfo on September 18, 1999.

The Pope was scheduled to meet other members of the royal family, and then return to the nunciature.

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