The Holy Father´s words resounded in St. Peter´s Basilica on Dec. 31 in the afternoon, during the traditional thanksgiving hymn “Te Deum.”
In the presence of some 8,000 pilgrims, the Holy Father said it “is a special duty to acknowledge our own frailties and the times when we have not been completely faithful to the love of God.”
“We ask the Lord´s forgiveness for our faults and omissions,” the Pope said. “Let us continue to be confidently abandoned to the Lord´s goodness. He will not fail to offer us his mercy and to help us continue in our apostolic commitment.”
The Bishop of Rome concluded by praying to God. “At the end of the year, we already look toward the new one, and our hearts are confidently abandoned to your mysterious plans of salvation,” the Pope said.
He spent New Year´s Eve praying in his private chapel that 2002 will be a year of “love and peace.”
