LOVING PEACE AND LIFE IS LEARNED IN THE FAMILY

VATICAN CITY, NOV 19, 2000 (VIS) - Pope John Paul, following today's Mass for the Jubilee of the Armed Forces and Police, and prior to praying the angelus with the more than 100,000 faithful gathered in a rainy St. Peter's Square, addressed the pilgrims in seven languages, reflecting on the role of the family in the life of military personnel and police.

Recalling that he too was the son of a military officer, the Holy Father said "it is not easy to be the family of someone in the military because you have to share all the discomforts that their mission involves. And yet the family is the principal support for each one of you who is committed to the defense of peace and life. One defends what one loves, and where can one better learn to love peace and life than in the family? For this reason, dear families, feel fully united with this mission and collaborate in the protection of justice and peace."

In his remarks to representatives of the Polish Army and police, the Pope said that "this Jubilee encounter with soldiers from throughout the world is an event which shows in a special way that armies do not necessarily have to be protagonists of dramatic bellicose events, but that they can and must be protectors and bearers of peace. I pray that the not easy service of the military and police of protecting the security of men and nations be always marked by a deep sensitivity to the sufferings and needs of the weakest and that it be accorded society's gratitude and God's blessings."

"I wish to raise my prayer to the Lord," John Paul II concluded, "for your many colleagues who have died over the years during diverse missions of peace and defending order and law. May their sacrifice not have been in vain!"

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