Date:26/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/26/stories/2004122602991200.htm

Front Page

Pope prays for peace, prosperity

Pope John Paul II at the midnight Christmas mass in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. — AP

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 25. In a Christmas Eve message of peace, Pope John Paul II lit a candle outside his darkened window and celebrated a Mass that offered prayers for calm and prosperity in the Holy Land.

The busy Christmas holidays can be trying for the ailing 84-year-old pontiff, but he seemed animated on Friday as celebrations opened. During midnight Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, he beamed as he blessed small children who carried gifts up to the altar.

In recent years, the Pope has sometimes used his midnight Mass message to lament bloodshed and war. This time, he illustrated his brief homily with the image of baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger.

Without mentioning any specific conflicts or problems, he made a general appeal for Christ's help.

``All humanity, with its burdens of trials and troubles, stands in need of you,'' he said.

The service in the poinsettia-filled basilica also included prayers that world leaders dedicate themselves to peace and that Christians, Muslims and Jews achieve a peaceful coexistence in the Holy Land.

``May (the Holy Land) experience times of prosperity and peaceful coexistence, through the mutual respect of its inhabitants,'' said one of the Mass intentions, read in German.