Address on World Day of Peace

1/2/2005 - 6:00 AM PST

Advertisment

"May Mary Help Us All to Build Together"

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 2, 2005 (Zenit) - Here is a translation of the address John Paul II gave today, World Day of Peace, before praying the midday Angelus with pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, gathered below the window of his study.

* * *

1. We begin the new year celebrating the feast of Mary, Mother of God, "Theotokos."

The Blessed Virgin offers to the world the Messiah who is the blessing of God for each person and for the entire world. In this blessing is based the congratulations that we exchange this day: best wishes, because in Christ God has bestowed on us every good; wishes for peace, because "He is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14).

2. In this liturgical context is framed the World Day of Peace, which this year has as its theme the exhortation of the Apostle Paul: "Do Not Be Overcome by Evil but Overcome Evil With Good" (Romans 12:21).

Evil "is the result of human freedom" (cf. Message for World Day of Peace 2005, 2) and is defeated when this, under the impulse of grace, is firmly oriented toward the good, that is, definitively toward God.

3. May Mary, queen of peace, help us all to build together this fundamental good of human coexistence. Only in this way can it advance along the paths of justice and fraternal solidarity.

Happy New Year!

[After praying the Angelus, the Pope greeted pilgrims in various languages. In Italian he said in part:]

In assuring my prayer for the victims of the catastrophe and for their families, I note favorably the solidarity efforts which are developing in every part of the world. This sense of humane solidarity, in addition to being the help of God, raises the hope for better days during the year that begins today.

[In English the Pope said:]

With warm New Year greetings, I invoke upon the English-speaking pilgrims God's blessings of joy and peace!

Contact

The Vatican
http://www.catholic.org , VA
Pope John Paul II - Bishop of Rome, 661 869-1000

Email

info@yourcatholicvoice.org

Keywords

Pope, Peace, Angelus, World Day, Prayer, Evil, Mary

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

0 Comments

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment