ADVANCE WITH FAITH ALONG THE PATH OF DIALOGUE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 1, 2001 (VIS) - In St. Peter's Square at 10 a.m. today, the Holy Father presided at a Eucharistic celebration to mark the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The Mass also marked the 34th World Day of Peace, the theme of which this year is: "Dialogue between cultures for a civilization of love and peace."

Speaking of the liturgy of today's solemnity, John Paul II said that, in presenting Mary "as she who offers the Child to the shepherds' gaze, the Evangelist Luke gives us an image of Mary that is at once simple and majestic. Mary is the woman of faith," a faith that brought her to "follow unfamiliar and unforeseeable paths while keeping all these things in her heart - in other words in the intimacy of her spirit - that she might respond with renewed enthusiasm to God and to His plan of love."

The Holy Father went on to refer to the World Day of Peace. "Today," he said, "in this evocative liturgical setting, I renew to all people of good will, the heartfelt invitation to faithfully and tenaciously travel down the priority path of dialogue. Only in this way will the specific richness that characterizes the history and the lives of men and of peoples not be lost; rather it will be able to contribute to building a new age of fraternal solidarity. May everyone strive to promote an authentic culture of solidarity and of justice." In the same way, he concluded, "great emphasis must be given to the urgent need to defend life, a fundamental good of humanity because 'it is not possible to invoke peace and despise life'."

At the end of Mass and before praying the angelus, the Pope said: "On this special day, we cannot but think of the Holy Land. ... This year, in my desire to be still closer to those people, I have sent Cardinal Roger Etchegaray as my representative to those sacred places, where he will preside at celebrations for the World Day of Peace. At the same time, he will consign my Message to the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, along with an invitation to continue on the path of dialogue in order to reach the longed-for peace, which is the essential foundation for fruitful coexistence between all the people of the world."

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