VATICAN CITY, JUL 1, 2001 (VIS) - Before praying the angelus today with the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square below his study window, the Pope recalled that "today starts the month of July which popular tradition dedicates to the contemplation of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, an unfathomable mystery of love and mercy."
"The blood of Christ," the Holy Father added, "is the price that God paid to free mankind from the slavery of sin and death. The blood of Christ is the irrefutable proof of the love of the heavenly Father for every man, none excluded."
John Paul II then turned to the situation in Sri Lanka. "May meditating on the Lord's sacrifice - a pledge of hope and peace for the world - be an encouragement and stimulus to build peace even where it seems almost unreachable. Today my thoughts turn in a special way to Sri Lanka where, on the occasion of the feast of Our Lady of Madhu, the Catholic community is gathering in prayer at that famous shrine to beseech the longed-for gift of peace. The parties involved in the tragic ethnic conflict, which for almost 20 years has been sowing violence and terrible atrocities in that dear nation, are finding it hard to attain the path of dialogue and reconciliation. A negotiated solution is the only one for facing the serious questions which are at the basis of the present conflict."
In remarks made following the angelus prayer, the Pope expressed "cordial greetings to the staff of L'Osservatore Romano who, together with their director, are present today in this square to commemorate the newspaper's 140 years of life. I thank them for their daily work in serving the truth in faithful adherence to the magisterium of the Successor of Peter. I hope that each one of you will persevere in the courageous defense of the basic human and Christian values on which all civil coexistence is based, offering every one the image of a Church ever more open to the world's longings."
ANG;PEACE SRI LANKA;...;...;VIS;20010702;Word: 330;
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