APPEAL FOR INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY FOR MOZAMBIQUE

VATICAN CITY, MAR 5, 2000 (VIS) - In remarks made before praying the angelus with the tens of thousands of faithful who had gathered in St. Peter's Square for today's Mass and beatification, Pope John Paul made an appeal for international solidarity with the victims of the floods in Mozambique.

"My thoughts," he said, "go to the population of Mozambique who are living through a tragedy of unheard-of proportions because of the serious floods which have struck a large part of the territory. Everything possible in the line of international solidarity during these days has been done without a break but much remains to be done. I encourage everyone to pursue the work of helping to alleviate in every possible way the dramatic situation of these brothers and sisters of ours."

The Holy Father also recalled the victims of the Spanish ship Zafir, which sank on February 14. He said he hoped "that everything possible would be done to recover the bodies of the missing sailors in order to return them to their families for a worthy burial."

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