APPEALS: JERUSALEM ATTACK CONDEMNED, EXODUS OF HUMAN BEINGS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 19, 2002 (VIS) - At the end of the general audience, celebrated this morning in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope
made two appeals, one concerning yesterday's attack in Jerusalem and the other in the face of the "tragic exodus" of human beings:

"The dramatic news of the attack that sowed terror and death in Jerusalem yesterday can only provoke the most absolute condemnation by all. Yet again I repeat to those who plot and plan such barbaric acts that they will have to answer to God. While I express my fervent human and spiritual solidarity to the families in mourning and to the injured, I invite you all to pray with me to the Lord so that he convert hardened hearts and inspire reciprocal thoughts of peace and reconciliation in all those who live in that region which is for us so beloved."

Subsequently, John Paul II recalled that "tomorrow we celebrate World Refugee Day, sponsored by the United Nations in order to call attention to 15 million human beings, forced to cross the borders of their countries in order to escape persecution or the violation of their fundamental rights.

"May the leaders of nations," he said, "listen to this appeal in the face of such tragic exodus of individuals and families and may they do everything possible to offer an adequate response to the dramatic problems of these brothers and sisters of ours."

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