POPE PLEADS FOR CHILDREN INVOLVED IN ARMED CONFLICTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 3, 2001 (VIS) - At the end of today's Pentecost Mass in St. Peter's Square, and before reciting the Regina Coeli with the tens of thousands of pilgrims present for the Mass, Pope John Paul reflected on children involved in armed conflicts, and urged the international community to protect them.

"We place in Mary's hands," he said, "the world's aspirations for peace and justice. In particular we wish to recommend to Our Lady's intercession the lives of so many young people who are victims of the absurd violence underway, unfortunately, in different countries as witnessed by the news coming in recent days from the Holy Land. A special thought goes to the children involved in armed conflicts. In about 50 countries, so many minors live in the midst of conflicts or post-conflict situations. They are victims of forced recruiting and abuses of every type; they can't go to school, they are separated from their parents and they are submitted to physical and psychological violence.

"I invite the international community to increase its efforts to protect and rehabilitate all who live in such dramatic circumstances. May children, who are the future and hope of mankind, finally grow up far from the scourge of war and every form of violence."

The Holy Father then turned to his predecessor, Pope John XXIII, whose body lay in a new crystal and bronze casket in front of the papal altar in the square. Reminding the faithful that soon Blessed John would have his final resting place in St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope said: "I return with admiration to the brief but intense pontificate of my well-remembered predecessor. I would like to recall above all his fervent devotion to Our Lady. He often recalled the good tradition of his childhood when the oldest members of the family led the rosary in their home. From that time on - he loved to say - Mary Most Holy took him by the hand and led him on the path of the priesthood, and (she) was the ideal for his entire life."

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