PLEAS FOR PEACE IN BALKANS, END OF DEATH PENALTY IN EUROPE

VATICAN CITY, MAR 29, 1999 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall, the Pope welcomed 300 members of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, and members of the parliamentary committees for political affairs, juridical affairs and human rights, migrations, refugees and demography.

Speaking French, he told them that the work that has been accomplished by the Council since it was founded 50 years ago, "has been an eminent service rendered to the peoples of Europe." He recalled that the Council "has steered the same course for 50 years: ... to more closely unite the European peoples on the basis of the patrimony of values which they share."

To accomplish this, John Paul II observed that "what must be remembered is that there is no just political, economic or social life without respect for the dignity of each person." He added that the values of human rights, freedom, democracy, and solidarity "are deeply rooted in the European conscience; they represent the strongest aspirations of European citizens. They must inspire every project whose noble ambition is to unite the peoples of this continent."

The Holy Father then spoke of the conflict in Kosovo, saying it "wounds all of Europe. I ask insistently that everything be undertaken to establish peace in the region and that people be able to live in fellowship in their land. Answering violence with violence is never the way to get out of a crisis. What must be done is to silence arms and acts of vengeance in order to undertake negotiations" leading to a peace agreement respectful "of different peoples and cultures."

Pope John Paul then said: "I add my voice to that of the Council of Europe in asking that the most basic right, the right to life for every person, be recognized throughout Europe and that the death penalty be abolished. This premier right ... not only implies that every person must be able to survive, but that each can live in just and dignified conditions."

The Pope urged the parliamentarians not to neglect "a serious family policy, which guarantees the rights of married couples and children. ... I invite national parliaments to redouble their efforts to sustain the basic cell of society, which is the family, and to give it its full place: it constitutes the primary place of socialization."

In concluding remarks, he expressed the Holy See's appreciation for the assembly's recent declaration that "democracy and religion are not incompatible; on the contrary ... religion, through its moral and ethical commitment, the values it defends, its critical sense and its cultural expression, can be a viable partner of a democratic society."

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