GENERAL AUDIENCE: MAY HUMANITY WALK IN THE WAYS OF PEACE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 2, 2002 (VIS) - In today's general audience, the first of the year 2002, the Pope invited the faithful present in the Paul VI Hall to renew their "thanksgiving to the Lord for the innumerable advantages with which He enriches every day of our lives."

John Paul II affirmed that the angels' song in Bethlehem, "glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth" must "spread throughout the world even in our own time which holds such great hopes and extraordinary openings in all fields yet which is also charged with great tensions and difficulties. Everyone's practical commitment is needed in order that, in the new year that has just begun, humanity may walk more freely and safely along the paths of peace."

"Throughout the year," he concluded, "may our prayer become stronger and more insistent, that we may obtain from God the gift of peace and fraternity, especially in the most troubled parts of the globe."

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