POPE REMEMBERS AND PRAYS FOR VICTIMS OF SEPTEMBER 11

VATICAN CITY, SEP 11, 2002 (VIS) - In the general audience today celebrated in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father remembered the victims of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York on the first anniversary of the tragic events, and he entrusted them to God's mercy.

The Pope assured the families and loved ones of those who died of his "spiritual closeness. But we also want to speak to the consciences of those who planned and executed such a barbaric and cruel act."

"One year after September 11, 2001, we repeat that no situation of injustice, no feeling of frustration, no philosophy or religion can justify such an aberration. Every person has the right to respect for life itself and dignity which are inviolable goods. God says it, international law sanctions it, the human conscience proclaims it, civil co-existence requires it."

The Holy Father emphasized that "terrorism is and will always be a manifestation of inhuman cruelty, which precisely for this reason will never be able to resolve conflicts among human beings. Abuse, armed violence and war are choices that sow and generate hate and death. Only reason and love are valid means to overcome and resolve disputes between people and nations."

"A harmonious and resolute effort is necessary and urgent to carry out new political and economic initiatives capable of resolving the scandalous situations of injustice and oppression that continue to afflict so many members of the human family, creating favorable conditions for the uncontrollable explosion of the desire for vengeance. It is necessary to build together a global culture of solidarity, that returns hope for the future to young people."

John Paul II stressed that "only from truth and justice can freedom and peace be born. Upon these values it is possible to construct a dignified life for man. Outside of these values, there is only ruin and destruction."

"On this sad anniversary," he concluded, "we raise our prayer to God so that love can replace hate and, with the effort of all people of good will, harmony and solidarity can be affirmed in all corners of the earth."

When greeting his countrymen in Polish, the Pope invited them to pray for the victims of the attacks and asked for "mercy and pardon for the authors of this horrible terrorist attack."

At the end of the audience John Paul II recited a prayer invoking divine mercy "for the injustices that stain the conscience of humankind," and prayed that the breath of the Holy Spirit, instilled in every man and woman, would make them grow "in harmony and become one big family" in which everyone is welcome as a son of God.
"May the memory of the tragic events in human history," he said, "not obscure confidence in the infinite mercy and fidelity of God. His unchanging will for love and peace, manifested in Christ Who died and rose from the dead, is the foundation of secure hope for all human beings and for all peoples."

The faithful who joined in the Pope's prayer expressed four prayer intentions in English, French, Arab and Spanish.

The intention in English prayed for "the victims of violence and terrorism and in particular for those who were cruelly snatched from their loved ones a year ago today." In French, they prayed for "the Church ... so that it may feed and sustain the hope of men of good will, guiding his footsteps on the ways of peace and justice."

"For believers of all religions," stated the Arab intention, "so that in the name of God All Merciful, Lover of peace they may reject firmly any form of violence and so that they may commit themselves to resolve conflicts with sincere and patient dialogue, respectful of the different historical, cultural and religious experiences."

Lastly, in Spanish they prayed for children and young people, "the hope of the new millennium ... so that they may be helped to build a civilization of love and peace, in a world where everyone's rights are defended and where goods are distributed equally in all parts."

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COMMEMORATION FOR VICTIMS OF SEPTEMBER 11

VATICAN CITY, SEP 11, 2002 (VIS) - This morning, in the chapel at Fiumicino Airport in Rome, there was a solemn eucharistic concelebration to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11.

At the beginning of the mass, Archbishop Stephen Fumio Hamao, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, expressed the "solidarity of the Holy See with all those who have suffered and continue to suffer the consequences of that terrible day." In addition, he invited everyone to pray for the deceased and for just and lasting peace in the world.

Archbishop John P. Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, will celebrate a mass this evening for peace and justice in the American parish of St. Susanna in which American residents of Rome will participate.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, SEP 11, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Archbishop Mario Roberto Cassari, apostolic nuncio in the Republic of the Congo and Gabon.

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HOLY SEE TO THE OSCE: MAINTAIN THE CALL OF HELSINKI

VATICAN CITY, SEP 11, 2002 (VIS) - Msgr. Ettore Balestrero, head of the delegation of the Holy See at the annual meeting of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), delivered a speech on September 9 upon the opening of the work sessions. The meeting is taking place in Warsaw, Poland and is dedicated this year to the analysis of the implementation of the commitments assumed by 55 participating states regarding the so-called 'human mission' of the OSCE.

The prelate began his talk by recalling the Declaration of Human Rights of Helsinki and affirmed that it was necessary to "keep alive the 'flame of the torch'" lit on that occasion. For this reason, he continued, it is necessary "to implement the commitments assumed, and to act in a manner consistent with them, even when responding to the threat of terrorism."

"Without a functioning rule of law there is no possibility of effectively addressing the scourge of terrorism. At the same time, if special measures are required, these should not be potential factors of change for the quality and nature of the democratic and judiciary systems. In other words, it should be avoided the risk of undermining the very basis of democracy and the rule of law even with the reason of coming to its defense."

Referring to the defense of religious freedom, the Holy See delegate asserted that "no civil law or religious communities may therefore be used to limit the activities, which are expressions of the religious freedom of those communities and of their individual members." He went on to underline that "member states of the OSCE should therefore reject any pressure possibly exercised in the context of their jurisdiction by whatever religious confession ... which might damage the expressions of religious freedom of other religious communities."

Another of the topics brought up by the prelate was human trafficking, "which has been defined," he said, "as the slavery of the 21st century. It is necessary for us all to confront the uncomfortable fact that so far States have not succeeded in eliminating this trade. ... This makes it especially important not to give in to any demagogy which would hamper the determination of new remedies and the implementation of the existing ones."

Lastly, Msgr. Balestrero spoke about immigration and observed that its regulation, through projects respectful of immigrants as well as the host population, would benefit everyone, that always "the right and fundamental freedoms of all parties involved should obviously be guaranteed."

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