The Greek press today hailed the Pope's plea for a divine pardon for 1,000 years of Catholic sins against Orthodox Christians, saying the move marked a thawing in strained church relations.
'Historical apology opens way for unity of two churches', the liberal newspaper Eleftherotypiasaid in a front page headline.'Papal apology reverses history', echoed the daily Ethnos.
Most Athens dailies filled their front pages with pictures of Pope John Paul meeting Greek Archbishop Christodoulos and praised his plea for forgiveness.
The Greek church recently lifted long-standing objections to the Pope realising his dream of retracing the footsteps of St Paul in the region, angering many conservative Orthodox Christians.
Archbishop Christodoulos welcomed the Pope on Friday with a litany of 1,000 years of Catholic offences against the Orthodox church but burst into applause when the Pope responded with a plea for divine pardon.
The conservative newspaper Kathimerinisaid the plea cracks the ice of centuries and described the Pope's visit as a landmark in smoothing traditional animosity between eastern and western Christianity.
Many Orthodox blame Catholicism for the Great Schism of 1054 that split Christianity into Eastern and Western churches, as well as other offences, including the Crusaders sacking Constantinople in 1204.
The Pope made a special mention of the Fourth Crusade in his speech before visiting the hill where St Paul preached to ancient Athenians, joined by Christodoulos.
The Pontiff was heading for Syria after holding a mass for Greece's small Catholic community today.