PEACE IS THE ONLY WAY TO BUILD A MORE JUST SOCIETY

VATICAN CITY, MAR 22, 2003 (VIS) - The Holy Father received this morning in audience the personnel of the Italian television station "Telepace" on the twenty-fifth anniversary of its founding.

"Telepace," said the Pope, noting that the Italian word "pace" means peace, "wants to be a television of peace, of that peace which is a gift from God and a humble and constant achievement of man. When war, like that underway in Iraq, threatens the future of humanity, it is even more urgent to proclaim with a strong and decisive voice that peace is the only way to build a more just and unified society. Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men. Your broadcast station has made this indispensable education of peace its objective from the beginning."

John Paul II indicated that during these 25 years, Telepace "has maintained its charism unaltered, free of economic pressure in order to serve God and man in the Church. Since 1985, in collaboration with the Vatican Television Center, it covers the apostolic trips of the Successor of Peter and transmits on a daily basis his word and his teaching to countless families in Italy, Europe and, since last year, in so many other nations on earth."

Telepace, he affirmed, invites its viewers toward solidarity, seeking concrete help for the needy: "It informs, educates on the faith, encourages hope, stimulates solidarity, spreads peace which is born from an encounter with Christ."

The Holy Father concluded by recalling the spiritual help that Telepace offers through "the daily celebration of Holy Mass and the recitation of the Rosary, eucharistic adoration and spiritual exercises and other air time devoted to prayer and Christian formation."

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