The Pope expresses concern over ME conditions

Pope John Paul II yesterday expressed his concern over the tense conditions in the Middle East. He called for work in order to establish peace.

In a sermon he held at the Vatican Church on the occasion of the world day for peace which falls the first day of the new year, the Pope said that "Christmas takes us back to Bethlehem, the birthplace of the Christ and reminds us that what is taking place in the holy lands and the continued and dramatic developments in that part of the Middle East requires urgent search a positive solution for the long conflict taking place there."

The Pope has called on all peoples to work in order to build a world of peace and to strengthen conditions of peaceful coexistence among nations.