ASTANA, Kazakhstan - Begging God to keep humanity in peace, Pope John
Paul issued a dramatic appeal on Sunday that the world not be allowed to slide
into war following the attacks on the United States.
"With all my heart I beg God to keep the world in peace," the Pope
said at the end of a mass for some 50,000 people on the first full day of his
visit to Kazakhstan, a Central Asian republic which may be caught up in an
eventual regional crisis.
"We must not let what happened lead to a deepening of divisions. Religion
must never be used as a reason for conflict," he said, referring to
tensions with some parts of the Islamic world following the attacks in New York
and Washington.
The Pope's appeal, read in a strong voice in English, was all the more powerful
for being issued in a region that may be caught up in military activity if
Washington strikes.
The 81-year-old Pontiff's plea came as the United States continued to build up
forces within striking distance of Afghanistan, base of militant Osama bin
Laden whom Washington says is a prime suspect over the September 11 attacks.
"I wish to make an earnest call to everyone, Christians and the followers
of other religions, that we work together to build a world without violence, a
world that loves life, and grows in justice and solidarity," he said.
The Pope held up Kazakhstan, which is majority Muslim and has a tiny Catholic
community, as an example of harmony between people of different religions.
"From this place, I invite both Christians and Muslims to raise an intense
prayer to the One, Almighty God whose children we all are, that the supreme
good of peace may reign in the world. May people everywhere, strengthened by
divine wisdom, work for a civilisation of love, in which there is no room for
hatred, discrimination or violence," he said.
He said the mass and read his appeal from an altar platform shaped like a
traditional Kazakh yurt, or felt tent.
NEGOTIATIONS, NOT WAR
On arrival in Kazakhstan on Saturday, Pope John Paul said all controversies
between nations must be resolved by negotiations and dialogue, not force of
arms.
The Pope, who aides say is losing sleep over the possibility of war, celebrated
a mass that began with a stiff wind blowing in from Siberia over the flat
steppes and ended in sunshine.
In his sermon at the mass, which was surrounded by tight security with police
checking everyone with metal detectors, the Pope paid tribute to those who
suffered during the Soviet era.
During Stalinist times more than two million people, mainly Germans, Poles and
Ukrainians, were deported to Kazakhstan.
The country was also home to 16 of the many camps in the Gulag Archipelago for
political dissidents and people, including many Catholics, who were considered
"unreliable."
One was Father Wladislaw Bukowinski, a Polish priest who was in labour camps
and prisons for a total of 15 years and was freed in 1961 after Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev released millions from Stalinist prisons and concentration
camps.
At the mass the Pope received a painting of Bukowinski, who preferred to live
out his remaining years helping Catholics in Kazakhstan rather than return to
Poland. He died in 1974.
Kazakhstan has long been concerned about Islamic radicals coming in from
neighbouring countries.
This year President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered that a special military
district be set up in the south to thwart possible incursions by militants who
want to set up a purist Muslim state in central Asia.
In the last two years, neighbouring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan fought off
attacks by militants who officials said came from bases in Tajikistan and
Afghanistan.
-- additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov