Pope John Paul II,Arrived in Greece this morning
Pope John Paul has asked for God's forgiveness for the Catholic Church's sins against Eastern Orthodox Christians. His comments, in the palace of the Orthodox Archbishop of Athens, were greeted with spontaneous applause. Pope John Paul began his controversial six-day tour in Greece this morning. The tour will also include Syria and Malta.
The pontiff travelled into Athens from the airport in the President's armoured limousine, through virtually deserted streets. The visit, the first by a Pope to Greece in almost 1,000 years, has unleashed a wave of protests. On the eve of his departure from Rome, a spokesman for Greece's Catholic bishops accused the Greek government of discriminating against non-Orthodox Christians in the public services and the army.
