APPEAL FOR PEACE IN ANGOLA, CONGO, SIERRA LEONE AND KOSSOVO

VATICAN CITY, JAN 3, 1999 (VIS) - Today, Sunday, John Paul II, before reciting the Angelus, appealed to political and military leaders to favour a just and lasting peace in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and Kossovo.

"Unfortunately, in the first stages of the new year painful situations still persist, and from various parts of the world cries of desolation due to war and abuses can still be heard," said the Pope.

"My thoughts are directed in this moment to Angola, where the fratricidal conflict is again spreading; to the Republic of the Congo, whose population, far from the attention of the world, has for some time been suffering the consequences of serious armed confrontation; and to Sierra Leone, site of unspeakable violence which obliges people to flee from their homes towards the unknown."

The Holy Father said that "responding to the anguished appeals that have come to me from so many places, I wish to address the political and military leaders and ask them to implement any initiatives which could favour a just and lasting peace."

"The drama in Kossovo," he continued, "where new conflicts occurred on Christmas Eve, always remains present in my heart."

John Paul II recalled that "when the rights of the individual are ignored or held in contempt, the seeds of instability, rebellion and violence are inevitably sown."

"It is of the utmost urgency to recover the awareness of the dignity of each human person, created in the image and likeness of God, and to find therein the sure basis for freedom, justice and peace in the world."

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