APPEAL FOR PEACE IN INDONESIA

VATICAN CITY, MAR 14, 1999 (VIS) - In remarks following today's angelus, Pope John Paul appealed for peace in Indonesia, saying that "for months now the city of Ambon, capital of the archipelago of the Molucca Islands, has been the center of bloody conflict, which has shaken the traditional harmonious coexistence between Christians and Muslims. Serious ethnic and religious tension has been recorded in other parts of Indonesia.

"In the face of such worrisome phenomena, I urgently exhort all, and especially those who foster dissension, to abandon violence, which is the cause of countless suffering, and to find the paths of peace once again. I truly wish, moreover, to express comfort for victims and closeness to the entire Indonesian people, upon whom I invoke the Lord's blessing."

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