By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer 21 minutes ago
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI issued a Christmas Day appeal Tuesday to political leaders around the globe to find the ''wisdom and courage'' to end bloody conflicts in Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan and Congo.
He mentioned in particular those living in the ''tortured regions'' of Darfur, Somalia, northern Congo, the Eritrea-Ethiopia border, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Balkans.
''May the child Jesus bring relief to those who are suffering and may he bestow upon political leaders the wisdom and courage to seek and find humane, just and lasting solutions,'' he said.
The pontiff delivered his message just hours after celebrating Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
Benedict followed his speech with his traditional Christmas Day greetings ? this year delivered in 63 different languages, including Mongolian, Finnish, Arabic, Hebrew, Swahili, Burmese, and in a new entry for 2007, Guarani, a South American Indian language.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071225/ap_on_re_eu/vatic...
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI issued a Christmas Day appeal Tuesday to political leaders around the globe to find the ''wisdom and courage'' to end bloody conflicts in Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan and Congo.
He mentioned in particular those living in the ''tortured regions'' of Darfur, Somalia, northern Congo, the Eritrea-Ethiopia border, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Balkans.
''May the child Jesus bring relief to those who are suffering and may he bestow upon political leaders the wisdom and courage to seek and find humane, just and lasting solutions,'' he said.
The pontiff delivered his message just hours after celebrating Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
Benedict followed his speech with his traditional Christmas Day greetings ? this year delivered in 63 different languages, including Mongolian, Finnish, Arabic, Hebrew, Swahili, Burmese, and in a new entry for 2007, Guarani, a South American Indian language.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071225/ap_on_re_eu/vatic...
