ANGELUS REFLECTIONS ON TRIP TO EGYPT, VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI  
   VATICAN CITY, FEB 27, 2000 (VIS) - Before praying the angelus today,
   Pope John Paul greeted the thousands of faithful gathered below his
   study window in St. Peter's Square, and reflected on his
   just-completed pilgrimage to Egypt and what he called its "climax, ...
   the ascent to Mount Sinai."
 
   He specifically thanked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian
   authorities, His Holiness Shenouda III, patriarch of the Coptic
   Orthodox Church, Greek-Orthodox Archbishop Damianos and the monks of
   St. Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai, and Grand Sheikh Sayed
   Tantawi of Al-Azhar, head of the Muslim community in Egypt.
 
   The Holy Father then underscored the important moments of his
   pilgrimage, which concluded Saturday evening with his return to Rome.
   He spoke of the Mass in Cairo's sports arena, attended by members of
   all of the Churches present in Egypt, and of the "meaningful
   ecumenical encounter" on Friday, saying "it pleases me to underline
   how profitable the dialogue with the Coptic Orthodox Church proved to
   be."
 
   "The focal point of my trip," he affirmed, "was the ancient monastery
   of St. Catherine's on Mount Sinai. There, in a simple but moving
   ceremony, I was able to commemorate the moment in which God, speaking
   from the burning bush, revealed His name - 'I Am' - to Moses, as well
   as the moment when He gave the People the Covenant based on the
   Decalogue. In the Ten Commandments we see reflected the basic precepts
   of the natural law. The Ten Commandments indicate the path for a fully
   human life. Outside of them there is no future of serenity and peace
   for persons, families and nations."
 
   After the Pope and the faithful prayed the angelus, John Paul II
   greeted "with affection the leaders and members of the Centesimus
   Annus-Pro Pontefice Foundation, which yesterday dedicated an intense
   day to the study of the complex question of the relationship between
   ethics and finance."
   ANG/PILGRIMAGE EGYPT/... VIS 000228 (320)