REGINA COELI: PRAY FOR END TO THE PITILESS LOGIC OF ARMS

VATICAN CITY, APR 7, 2002 (VIS) - Today, second Sunday of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope John Paul dedicated lengthy remarks to the Mideast situation as he prepared to pray the Regina Coeli with tens of thousands of faithful who had gathered for the noon prayer in St. Peter's Square. Last week the Pope had called on the universal Church to dedicate this Sunday to a Day of Prayer for Peace in the Middle East.

"'Peace to you!'" began the Pope. "This was how Jesus addressed the apostles in the Gospel of this Sunday that ends the Easter octave. It is a greeting that, in these hours, has an especially deep echo in our souls in the face of the worrisome continuation of clashes in the Holy Land. Precisely for this reason I have asked the sons and daughters of the Church to unite today in a single and insistent prayer for peace.

"Peace is a gift of God. The Creator Himself wrote in the hearts of men the law of respect for life: 'Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in His own image'. When the pitiless logic of arms dominates all around, only God can lead hearts to thoughts of peace. Only He can give the energy necessary for man to be freed from hatred and the thirst for vengeance and to undertake the path of negotiation with a view to an accord and peace.

"How can it be forgotten that Israelis and Palestinians, following the example of Abraham, believe in one God? It is to Him, Whom Jesus revealed to us as the merciful Father, that today rises the chorus of prayers by Christians, who repeat with Francis of Assisi: 'Lord make me an instrument of peace'.

"My thoughts," said John Paul II, "go especially in this moment to the Franciscan community, the Greek Orthodox and the Armenian Orthodox who are living through very difficult hours in the basilica of the Nativity. I assure all of them of my constant prayer."

Before praying the Regina Coeli, the Holy Father dedicated closing remarks to today's celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday and to tomorrow's liturgical celebration of the Annunciation of Mary."

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