VATICAN CITY, JAN. 1, 2005 (Zenit.org).- 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.
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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!
[Translation by ZENIT]
