VATICAN CITY— Pope John Paul Il, in a New Year’s Day message Wednesday, called on mankind not to be slaves of the forces of destruction and to counter hate with love.
In his special Mass marking the church’s World Peace Day, John Paul pledged the Vatican’s support for the United Nations’ efforts at bringing peace to the world.
“We wish to dedicate the first day of the New Year to the cause of peace and to pray for peace in our world so threatened,” he said in his homily in Italian
John Paul, dressed in yellow robes and a yellow and white miter, said mankind should approach the altar and cry, “We are not slaves of the forces that carry destruction.” The pontiff noted that he will travel to India later this month, and recalled the words of Mohandas Gandhi, the exponent of nonviolent protest who led India to independence from Britain,
“Hate can only be overcome by love,” he said before 10,000 people in the brightly lighted basilica,
For a true peace, he said, there needs to be a new “solidarity of the human family” that overcomes “the barriers of ideology and of systems.”
John Paul also issued an attack against abortion, saying, “The maternity of the mother of God renders testimony to the dignity of every human life and cries in a loud voice to all, from one border to another of the earth; Do not kill.”
Article extracted from this publication >> January 10, 1986
