JOHN PAUL II WELCOMES NEW AMBASSADOR FROM YUGOSLAVIA

VATICAN CITY, APR 11, 2002 (VIS) - Pope John Paul today welcomed Darko Tanaskovic and accepted his Letters of Credence as the new ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the Holy See.

The Pope spoke to the ambassador about the rebuilding of Yugoslavia after a conflict that left "material and moral damage." He highlighted the "need for reconciliation within Yugoslavia itself, so that all may work together, with respect for one another's differences, to rebuild society and the common good." He also underscored the "need to put aside ethnic and nationalistic introversion and to further build a Nation whose democratic institutions ... ensure that all its peoples, especially the minorities, are active and equal participants in the political and economic life of their communities."
The Holy Father affirmed the importance of rejecting violence in a process of reconciliation. "Your own country has known better than most through its history that violence begets more violence, and that dialogue alone can break that death-dealing spiral."

He noted that "cultural differences have often been a source of misunderstanding between peoples" but he stressed that "there are values which are common to all cultures, ... universal values (such as) solidarity, peace, life and education."

"The Catholic Church," the Pope said, "faithful to the spiritual and ethical principles of her universal mission, seeks to promote not some narrow ideological or national interest but the full development of all peoples, with particular attention to and solidarity with those most in need."

In closing, John Paul II noted that "in a situation such as the one you face, religion is not the root of the problem, but an essential part of its solution." He expressed his pleasure that "religious education has been re-introduced in Serbian schools, for it provides a special opportunity to teach the young those universal values which are rooted in the nature of the person and ultimately in God."

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