THE SINAI PENINSULA AND ST. CATHERINE'S MONASTERY
VATICAN CITY, FEB 26, 2000 (VIS) - This morning Pope John
Paul II
visited the Sinai Peninsula and St. Catherine's Monastery,
thus
completing the final phase and focal point of his first
Jubilee Year
pilgrimage.
The Sinai Peninsula, 61,000 square kilometers, constitutes
the Asian
part of Egypt. It is bordered by the Mediterranean on
the north, the
Red Sea on the south, the Suez Canal, inaugurated in 1869,
on the west
and the Gulf of Aqaba on the east. The peninsula consists
of sandy
plains and flat beaches in the north and arid plateaus
in the center.
The southern edge consists of crystalline blocks which
form the Sinai
Massif where Mount St. Catherine is located, which, at
2,641 meters,
is the highest point in Egypt.
The monastery of St. Catherine is an Orthodox Church,
autonomous in
its government but not autocephalous. The abbot is elected
by the
community of monks, currently numbering 23, and is consecrated
by the
Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem with the title of
archbishop of
the Sinai, Paran and Raitho.
This is the site of the Biblical "burning bush" where
Moses received
the Ten Commandments from the Lord. Roots of this bush,
as well as
relics of St. Catherine, can be found inside the monastery.
Hermits originally occupied this site. Byzantine Emperor
Justinian I
built a monastery there in 527 and dedicated the basilica
to Mary,
whose virginity the burning bush symbolized. In the seventh
century,
with the arrival of Islamic conquerors, the monastery
was spared, on
the condition that a small mosque be constructed within
the walls.
Still today mountain bedouins, who venerate Moses and
are the
traditional guardians of the monastery, pray there.
St. Catherine's monastery has been known by the name of
this martyr of
Alexandria since the ninth century. Originally under the
jurisdiction
of Jerusalem, it became independent in 1575.
PV-MOUNT SINAI/ST CATHERINE/SINAI VIS 000226 (310)