POPE JOHN PAUL RELIVES JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE TO MOUNT SINAI

VATICAN CITY, MAR 1, 2000 (VIS) - Due to the rainy weather, today's general audience took place in both St. Peter's Basilica and the Paul VI Hall where, in the presence of more than 23,000 pilgrims, the Holy Father gave his weekly catechesis in Italian, as well as summaries in other languages, and concluded with multi-lingual greetings.

The Pope focussed on his just-completed pilgrimage to Egypt "in the footsteps of Moses." Expressing his "great joy" at the trip, he stated that "the culminating moment of this extraordinary experience was the trip to the foot of Mount Sinai, the Holy Mountain; it is holy because on it, God revealed Himself to His servant Moses; He revealed His name, and He gave His people His Law, the Ten Commandments."

John Paul II renewed his gratitude to the president and people of Egypt "for their warm welcome and hospitality," to the "fervent Catholic community - a small group but ardent in their Gospel witness," and to Coptic Catholic Patriarch Stephanos II Ghattas. He also underscored his encounters with the leaders and faithful of other Churches and ecumenical communities, the Great Sheikh of Al-Azhar, His Holiness, Patriarch Shenouda III of the Orthodox Coptic Church and Archbishop Damianos and the monks of St. Catherine's Monastery.

The Holy Father then focussed on the Law which God gave to Moses and to His people on Mount Sinai, saying that "the Ten Commandments are the law of life and freedom. They are written on the human heart as the universal moral law, valid in every time and place. They save man from the destructive forces of selfishness, hatred and falsehood. To keep the Commandments is to be faithful to God, but it is also to be faithful to ourselves, to our true nature, and our deepest aspirations."

"Mount Sinai," said John Paul II in closing, "reminds me today of another mountain which, God willing, I will have the joy of visiting at the end of this month: the Mount of the Beatitudes in Galilee. ... The Beatitudes are the Gospel completion of the Law given on Sinai."

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