MOSCOW, March 2 -- His words drowned out by thunderous applause in a packed cathedral, Pope John Paul II led Russian Catholics in prayer today via a satellite link from Rome.
The audio and video hookup, which included five other cities, was part of the pope's intensified bid to reach 600,000 Roman Catholics in one of the few remaining countries that refuse to invite him to visit.
His effort provoked a fresh outburst from Alexy II, patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, who accuses the Vatican of trying to convert the Orthodox flock. "We view this as the invasion of Russia," Alexy said after the pope's appearance, which included a one-minute prayer in Russian.
An estimated 3,000 people crowded Moscow's red-brick Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to see a slightly blurry, grainy image of the pope on giant screens that hung by wires from metal ladders in the aisles. Every pew was filled more than three hours before John Paul began to speak about 9 p.m.
The pope's "virtual visit" took place just two weeks after the Vatican bolstered its presence in Russia by creating four new dioceses. Some analysts interpreted the move as a signal that John Paul, who is 81 and increasingly frail, has given up hope that he will ever set foot in Russia. He has visited 126 of the world's 191 countries in his 23 years as pope, but his recent trips have been brief.
Others suggested the Vatican senses an opening with President Vladimir Putin, who is seen as less supportive of the Orthodox patriarch than was his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. Putin said last month that it was his "dear hope" that the pope would visit Russia, but that it depended on the Vatican's relations with the Orthodox Church. More than half of the Russians consider themselves followers of the Orthodox faith, although few attend church.
Visitors to the cathedral said the satellite hookup was better than nothing. The elaborate chandeliers were dimmed so that worshipers could see the screens in the soft glow of candlelight. When the pope was shown waving, many churchgoers, wet-eyed and smiling, waved back.
"It is great. Now at least there will be a contact with his brothers and sisters through this TV link," said Felixa Trusova, 65.
Trusova said her father was executed in 1937 on charges of helping a Catholic priest escape from the Soviet Union, and that she changed her last name to conceal her Polish ethnicity and Catholic background. She has seen many changes over the past decade, including the state's decision to return to Moscow's Catholics the cathedral that was built in the early 1900s and seized by the Communists.
The pope's exclusion from Russia, she said, is a lingering wrong. "The pope must come here," she said. "Orthodox presidents travel to Catholic countries freely. So why not the pope?"
The pope gave a short prayer in 15 languages, according to the Echo Moskvy radio station. His words were difficult to hear, in part because his Russian was simultaneously translated into Italian for listeners in Rome.
Until last night, it was unclear whether Russians would hear anything at all, because Russian customs officials refused to release the church's communications equipment. None of Russia's television stations -- which are all directly or indirectly under state control -- agreed to air the pope's prayer live.
Demian Belitsky, 61, who was born and baptized in Ukraine, called the event a success, even before 10 minutes of applause filled the church.
"This prayer will bring closer the possibility of the pope's actual visit here," he said.