"GREAT RELIEF" FOR THE END OF SIEGE OF BASILICA AT BETHLEHEM

VATICAN CITY, MAY 12, 2002 (VIS) - After praying the Regina Coeli with the faithful congregated in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II said: "We have all received with great relief the news that the basilica of the Nativity at Bethlehem has been reinstated to God and to the faithful.

"I give heartfelt thanks to all those who have contributed to restoring to the holy place its true religious identity. I am thinking particularly of the communities of Franciscans and the Greek and Armenian-Orthodox who, with notable sacrifice, remained faithful custodians of the shrine. I strongly encourage the population of Bethlehem and its surroundings to resume the path with faith and hope in God, who in their land became so close to man.

"My special envoy, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, the bearer of my sentiments, is in Bethlehem today.

"The universal message of Bethlehem is: love, justice, reconciliation and peace. It is upon these bases that a future, respectful of the rights of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, can be constructed, in reciprocal trust," he concluded.

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