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Pope wants peace in land of jesus Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20041225/2004-12-25T120818Z_01_L24659510_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-POPE-CHRISTMAS-DC.html"With great apprehension I follow the situation in Iraq. And how can I fail to look with anxious concern, but also invincible confidence, toward that Land of which you are a son?" he said.
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20041225/2004-12-25T120818Z_01_L24659510_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-POPE-CHRISTMAS-DC.html
Pope Says Entire Globe Yearning for Peace
Dec 25, 7:08 AM (ET)
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul told the world in his Christmas message on Saturday that people were yearning for peace everywhere around the globe and expressed particular concern for Iraq, the Middle East and Africa.
"Everywhere peace is needed!" he said in an unusually short "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and world) message, which he read with difficulty from the steps of St Peter's Basilica.
The Pope, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease and no longer walks, asked the infant Jesus to encourage attempts to promote dialogue and reconciliation and to sustain peace efforts.
"I think of Africa, of the tragedy of Darfur in Sudan, of the Ivory Coast and the Great Lakes Region. With great apprehension I follow the situation in Iraq. And how can I fail to look with anxious concern, but also invincible confidence, toward that Land of which you are a son?" he said.
Afterwards, encouraged by chants of "John Paul II, We Love You," he continued with determination to read brief Christmas greetings in 62 languages, including Arabic, Hebrew and others spoken in some of the world's hot spots.
The "Urbi et Orbi" message was heard by thousands of people under umbrellas in a rainy St Peter's Square and watched by tens of millions of others on live television in more than 70 countries, including several predominantly Muslim nations.
Showing the signs of his illness and the weight of his office, the leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics said the globe was marked by violence and despair in many places.
"Before the crib where you lie helpless, let there be an end to the spread of violence in its many forms, the source of untold suffering," he said, wearing gold-colored vestments.
The 84-year-old Pope's message was the shortest it has ever been in his 27 Christmas seasons as Pontiff -- a concession to the illness that makes it difficult for him to speak more than a few sentences at a time.
"Let there be an end to the numerous situations of unrest which risk degenerating into open conflict; let there arise a firm will to seek peaceful solutions, respectful of the legitimate aspirations of individuals and peoples," he said.
PACKING A PEACE PUNCH
The message was only about half as long as it has been in previous years. Still, it packed the type of peace punch that has become a trademark of his papacy.
"You, Prince of true peace, help us to understand that the only way to build peace is to flee in horror from evil, and to pursue goodness with courage and perseverance," he said,
"Men and women of good will, of every people on the earth, come with trust to the crib of the Saviour!"
It was the second event for the weak Pope in less than 12 hours.
At his Midnight Mass in St Peter's Basilica, he read a brief sermon in which he said the troubled world needed the message of Jesus more than ever.
No longer able to walk, he sat slightly bent on his wheeled throne at the Midnight Mass, attended by representatives of some 150 governments, and appeared very pensive at times.
In the run-up to the holiday season, the Pope and the Church urged the faithful to keep Christ in Christmas and to shun the rampant materialism that has gripped Italy and other countries.
Several times in past weeks he praised the significance of the traditional nativity scene, which some Italian schools discontinued so as not to offend a growing Muslim population.
It has been a long and tiring year for the Pope, although his illness appears to have stabilized in the past few months.
Earlier this week he told aides he would need their help more than ever to run the Church.
"As the years pass, I feel more than ever the need for the help of God and the help of men," he told them in Christmas greetings on Tuesday.
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