MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In Egypt today, Pope John Paul II visited a monastery along the foothills of Mount Sinai, the place revered as the site where God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses and the children of Israel. CNN's Cairo Bureau Chief Ben Wedeman joins us with more on the pope's pilgrimage. Hello, Ben.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. This was for the pope a dream come true. He'd said many times before that he wanted to visit the holy sites and this is the first visit, the first visit by the pope to these holy sites, this, of course, the St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai. Here is where inside the walls of this monastery behind me is what the monks inside say is the burning bush through which God spoke to Moses. The pope prayed in the, inside the chapel of the burning bush. The monks told us afterwards that the pope prayed twice as long as they expected. The Greek Orthodox monks who inhabit this monastery have been somewhat dubious about the pope's visit because, of course, they don't recognize papal authority. One of them said that we welcome him as a normal person, as an ordinary person. We are neither sad nor happy about his visit. Nonetheless, all the senior members of this monastery came out to greet the pope. They toured, they took him on a tour of the monastery. Afterwards, they accompanied the pope when he walked, it's a short walk but for the 79-year-old pontiff a very difficult walk from the monastery to an area where he addressed a crowd of worshippers. He called for peace in the Middle East. Prayers were made in Arabic and English and French for peace in the Middle East. The pope praised Egypt. He praised the Christians of Egypt for preserving Christian culture here in this country and now he's on his way back to Cairo and shortly he will be flying back to Rome, getting ready for his trip to the Middle East, to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting live from St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai.
Pope's Pilgrimage Fulfills Personal Dream