[Bill Hemmer, Cnn Anchor:] Pope John Paul II, on a historic visit to Egypt, is appealing for harmony among Christians and Muslims there. The pontiff is on a three-day tour of Egypt, where some members of the minority Christian community have complained of being treated as second-class citizens. The pope today said mass to some 20,000 people at a stadium in Cairo. CNN's Ben Wedeman now with more on his appeal to the faithful and to others.
[Ben Wedeman, Cnn Correspondent:] Another first for Pope John Paul II. The first ever mass conducted by a Roman Catholic pope in Egypt. The audience of more than 20,000 included not only members of Egypt's small Catholic community, but Copts and Muslims as well, all come to hear an appeal for religious tolerance and understanding from the ailing 79-year-old pontiff. The mass was broadcast live on Egyptian television. Speaking in French, the pope praised Egyptian Christians' role in education and social development, and committed himself to trying to narrow the centuries old divide between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. And he expressed a desire that, one day, all Christians will come together and put aside doctrinal differences. Catholics in Egypt number between 200,000 and 250,000. The vast majority of Christians here belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church totaling around six million. On Thursday, the pope met with the leader of Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III, as well as one of the leading figures of Sunni Islam, Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi, stressing the need for brotherhood in a country that in recent years has been shaken by sectarian violence. [on camera]: Pope John Paul's visit has, so far, gone off without a hitch with barely a peep of protests from any corridor, a positive sign, many people here say, for the future of Muslim- Christian relations in Egypt. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Cairo.