Pope John Paul has condemned the violence in the Middle East and denounced the bloody chain of events which, he said, have plunged the Holy Land into "horror and despair."
Hours after Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Ramallah exchanged fire with Palestinian guards shooting from inside Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's office, John Paul II dedicated much of his Easter traditional Urbi et Orbi address to the bloody conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
John Paul, after celebrating Mass on the steps of St Peter's Basilica, called on Christians everywhere to "work for peace so that peace may end the tragic sequence of atrocities and killings that bloody the Holy Land, plunged again these very days into horror and despair. It seems that war has been declared on peace!"
That was the Vatican's official English translation of his remarks. Speaking in Italian, the Pope used a phrase which translates as "dramatic spiral of abuse of power" instead of atrocities. It was not clear why the translation varied.
John Paul went on to add that "nothing is resolved through reprisal and retaliation."
"This is truly a great tragedy," the Pope continued. "No-one can remain silent and inactive, no political or religious leader!"
"Denunciation must be followed by practical acts of solidarity that will help everyone to rediscover mutual respect and return to frank negotiation," the Pope said as tens of thousands of people in the crowd listened in silence.
After days of chilly early spring weather, a brilliant sun warmed the square, where the Pope sat in an armchair shaded by a canopy. At the ceremony's end, John Paul recited Easter wishes in 62 languages including Irish.
Holy Week ceremonies made evident just how frail the Pope has become. For the first time, he ceded his place at the altar during Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday Masses. Also for the first time, he didn't carry a wooden cross for even a few meters (yards) in a Good Friday procession at the Colosseum.
John Paul turns 82 in May and his doctors have long been trying to persuade him to cut back on his activities, especially after surgery in 1992 to remove a bowel tumour and hip surgery in 1994 after he fell in his bathroom.
AP