(7 May 1999) Natural Sound
Pope John Paul II has arrived in Romania, kicking off the first visit by a pontiff to a mainly Eastern Orthodox Christian country in almost 1-thousand years.
The Pope's visit is part of his drive for reconciliation among the various Christian denominations as the new millennium approaches.
On two occassions the Pope and Patriarch Teoctist, the leader of the Orthodox Church in Romania, embraced each other, a symbolic gesture indicating the formerly strained relations between the two churches was close to being healed.
A pope has not set foot in a predominantly Orthodox Christian country since the Great Schism of 1054, when the Eastern church definitively split from Rome.
After being met by Patriarch Teoctist and Romanian President Emil Constantinescu at Bucharest's Baneasa Airport, the two spiritual leaders rode in the pope mobile to the main Orthodox Cathedral.
Thousands of people lined the roadway of the 11-kilometre (6-mile) journey from the airport, wave flags and cheering.
The two men sat side by side during a prayer service that was televised across the country.
The Pope's visit has spurred hopes for greater unity between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches in Romania.
But some Orthodox Romanians have questioned the timing -- what with NATO bombing Orthodox Serbs in neighbouring Yugoslavia.
Those views were firmly quashed on Friday by Patriarch Teoctist who says the Pope's visit will promote more understanding.
Romania's invitation to the Pope was months in the making.
The visit became possible only after the Orthodox and Romania's Catholics agreed to set aside a dispute over ownership of thousands of Catholic churches seized by the communists in 1948 and transferred to Orthodox parishes.
But, Orthodox leaders are not ready to let the pope visit Transylvania, home to most of Romania's Catholics, fearing he may undercut their authority.

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