POPE TO OFFER "SILENCE AND PRAYER" OF RETREAT FOR PEACE

VATICAN CITY, MAR 9, 2003 (VIS) - In reflections before praying the Angelus today, Pope John Paul asked the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray for him and his closest collaborators in the Roman Curia as they begin their annual retreat in the Vatican this evening. "During this week of silence and prayer," he stated, "I will bear in mind the needs of the Church and the concerns of all mankind, above all for peace in Iraq and the Holy Land."

He also noted that last Wednesday marked the start of Lent, "a penitential itinerary of preparation for Easter." He pointed to today's Gospel, saying "during the forty days of Lent believers are called to follow Christ in the 'desert', to face and to conquer with Him the spirit of evil. This is an inner struggle, on which depend the concrete foundations of life. It is in fact from man's heart that his intentions and actions come; it is therefore only in purifying one's conscience that one prepares a path of justice and peace, both on a personal level and in the social sphere."

The Holy Father said that "purifying one's conscience and converting one's heart to true peace are more than ever necessary in the context of the current world situation." Referring to the icon of Christ Who unmasks and vanquishes Satan, the Pope said that "within every man echoes both the voice of God and the insidious one of evil. The latter seeks to deceive man, seducing him with the prospect of false goods, to take him away from the true good, which consists of doing the divine will. But humble and trusting prayer, strengthened by fasting, allow us to overcome even the harshest trials and fill us with the courage to fight evil with good. Lent is a time of fruitful training for the Spirit."

After praying the Angelus, John Paul II pointed out that "on Saturday, March 15, at 6 p.m. in the Paul VI Hall, there will be Marian prayer vigil on the occasion of the First European Day of University Students on the theme 'Intellectual Charity, the Soul of the New Europe'." He said that many young people are expected, adding that "together we will pray to Mary, 'seat of wisdom' and to her we will entrust the hopes and path of the European continent."

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