DAILY CATHOLIC     MONDAY     May 17, 1999     vol. 10, no. 95

NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

To print out entire text of Today's issue,
go to SECTION ONE and SECTION TWO

POPE LAUNCHES A NEW CALL FOR PEACE IN KOSOVO WHILE L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO CONDEMNS NATO'S MASSACRE OF REFUGEES

Holy Father greets a group of Refugees in St. Peter's Square, Vatican paper demands Acceleration of Peace Negotiations

          VATICAN CITY, MAY 16 (ZENIT).- At the conclusion of the first world encounter of volunteers, John Paul II launched a new call for peace in Kosovo.

          A group of refugees from the war-devastated region gathered in St. Peter's Square to hear the Pope's words to them: "I am very pleased to receive this morning a group of Kosovian refugees being cared for by Italian Caritas."

          In continuation he added, "Beloved brothers, in this month of May we are praying for peace. May the intercession of Mary most Holy obtain it for you and for all peoples made martyrs by war."

          "The search for negotiated solutions" for the crisis in the Balkans has "already taken too long," insisted "L'Osservatore Romano" on the front page of today's issue.

          "The new slaughter of refugees that has inflicted the most recent wounds in bleeding Kosovo, who is at the limits of its strength, constitute a call to the conscience of the world that it bring peace," stated the semi-official Vatican newspaper in its Italian edition. "Sorrow for the victims, shared suffering in the fears of those who, due to their flight, cannot know if their loved ones are among the dead, demands that the heads of the organizations of the international community listen to the cry of that rent conscience."

          "L'Osservatore Romano" recalled that hate is not something "inevitable," even though we find ourselves "before the obvious and cruel barbarity that ex-Yugoslavia has lived in this decade or before a technological violence that has made our century the bloodiest in history."

          Therefore, the article calls for responsible politicians not to give in to the temptations to "discouragement, or worse still, to indifference, which could increase the amount of time -- already too long -- needed to find a negotiated solution."

          The article ends with a stern warning. "No one is allowed to put more pitfalls into the perilous path of peace."


Articles provided through Catholic World News and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales and International Dossiers, Daily Dispatches and Features at ZENIT International News Agency. CWN, NE and ZENIT are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provide this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

May 17, 1999       volume 10, no. 95
NEWS & VIEWS

DAILY CATHOLIC

|    Back to Graphics Front Page     Back to Text Only Front Page     |    Archives     |    What the DAILY CATHOLIC offers     |    DAILY CATHOLIC Ship Logs    |    Ports o' Call LINKS     |    Catholic Webrings    |    Catholic & World News Ticker Headlines     |    Why we NEED YOUR HELP     |    Why the DAILY CATHOLIC is FREE     |    Our Mission     |    Who we are    |    Books offered     |    Permissions     |    Top 100 Catholics of the Century    |    Enter Porthole HomePort Page    |    Port of Entry Home Page |    E-Mail Us