 Pope
John Paul II delivers his traditional Christmas message from the
steps of St. Peter's Basilica
VATICAN CITY
-- Pope John Paul II, in his Christmas message, warned of a "culture
of death" threatening the world, and condemned violence in
Indonesia and the Mideast.
Some 50,000
tourists, pilgrims and Romans filled St. Peter's Square on Monday
as the 80-year-old pontiff expressed the wish that hope can still
outshine the darkness of evil.
Seated in
an armchair on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica, the pope --
after only a few hours of sleep following midnight Mass on the
square -- gave his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" (To the
City and to the World) message.
Jesus was
born "to restore hope to every man and woman on the face
of the Earth," said the ailing pope, who looked tired and
whose words were at time so slurred they were difficult to understand.
His slurred
speech and trembling hand are common symptoms of Parkinson's disease,
a degenerative neurological disorder.
In the address,
televised live to some 40 countries, the pontiff read a litany
of sins marring humanity, and he lamented the violence, suffering
and indifference in the world.
"I am
thinking with great concern of the Holy Land, where violence continues
to stain with blood the difficult path to peace," he said,
echoing his words during the midnight Mass. More than 340 people,
most of them Palestinians, have been killed in some three months
of violence in the Middle East.
At the last
minute, the pope's speech was updated to reflect the bombings
outside churches in Jakarta and five other Indonesian cities on
Christmas Eve. The blasts killed at least 10 people and aggravated
already tense relations between Christians and Muslims there.
"And
what are we to say about countries -- I am thinking particularly
of Indonesia -- where our brothers and sisters in faith, even
on this Christmas day, are undergoing a tragic time of trial and
suffering?" the pope asked.
'Serious
threat'
The pope said the world was confronted by "alarming signs
of the culture of death which pose a serious threat for the future."
Sin, he said,
was reflected in many of the problems that continue to mar humanity,
including violence against women and children, the marginalisation
of the young and elderly, and "endless streams of exiles
and refugees."
The pope also
spoke of the "shadows of death" that are "especially
menacing at (life's) earliest beginning and its natural end"
-- a reference to abortion and euthanasia, which the Vatican strongly
opposes.
"However
dense the darkness may appear," the pope said, "our
hope for the triumph of the light which appeared on this holy
night at Bethlehem is stronger still."
The pope continued
his custom of reciting Christmas greetings in dozens of languages,
this year stretching his list to some 60 tongues, beginning with
Italian, ending with Latin and including Russian, Greek, Chinese
and Vietnamese.
On Christmas
Eve, the pope's midnight Mass was moved outdoors for the first
time during his papacy to accommodate the large number of Holy
Year pilgrims.
The pope will
formally close the Roman Catholic Church's special Holy Year for
the 2000 Jubilee on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany.
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