SPORT CAN ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO BUILDING PEACE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 26, 2000 (VIS) - The Pope sent a message to participants in last evening's "Match of the Heart," a football game in Rome's Olympic Stadium in which a team of Israeli and Palestinian artists played against a team of Italian singers. Present at the match were Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Naational Authority, and Shimon Peres, Israeli minister for Development and Regional Policies.

"I express my appreciation," writes the Holy Father, "for this exceptional initiative that aims to consolidate the culture of acceptance and dialogue between Italian, Israeli and Palestinian peoples."

John Paul II affirms: "Sport too, a vehicle of human and moral stimuli and values, can assist towards making the world more fraternal and united in solidarity. May this 'match of the heart' encourage you, dear friends from different nations and cultures, to know one another better and to progress along the path of mutual respect and reciprocal esteem. May solidarity and peace be above all the winners in this heartwarming competition. From the Olympic Stadium, may your message of hope be transmitted: Sport too can contribute to building peace."

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