PAPAL LETTER TO PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW, ALEXIS II

VATICAN CITY, APR 21, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter written on April 18 by Pope John Paul to His Holiness Alexis II, Patriarch of Moscow and of all the Russias, on the occasion of the Orthodox patriarch's trip to Belgrade as the head of a delegation seeking to mediate a peaceful solution to the Yugoslav conflict. The delegation arrived yesterday morning in Belgrade, and departed last evening.

In the French-language Letter, of which we offer excerpts, the Holy Father affirms that in this region of the Balkans "an armed conflict is underway which is causing immense human suffering," that he has received "extremely worrisome testimonies concerning the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" and that he personally "is deeply troubled in this regard."

John Paul II writes: "I am thus comforted to learn that Your Holiness will visit the venerable Patriarch Pavle and the Serbian Church, proclaiming the Easter message of peace and expressing Christian solidarity with all the victims of the persecutions and violence which have unfortunately marked this region for so long now. It is my firm hope that those whom you will meet will welcome the message which you bring, recognizing in it the only way to reestablish peace and stability, so that all people, whatever their ethnic, religious or political origin, can live in peace with others.

"It is the duty of all who profess the Gospel of Peace to unanimously proclaim that all violence, ethnic cleansing, deportation of peoples and the exclusion of peoples from society, cannot be considered as a means to obtain civilized solutions to problems which can only be resolved by lawful procedures. Too often, violence seems to be the easiest formula to resolve difficult situations."

The Pope ends the message, asking that "the Risen Lord bless all those who have been deprived of the most basic goods, and allow peace to reign in this beloved land which has suffered for too long. May your visit be fruitful and help us to be bearers of consolation in the face of such a human tragedy!"

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