POPE DEVOTES WEEKLY AUDIENCE TO 9/11 ANNIVERSARY

VATICAN, Sep 11, 02 (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II broke from his usual pattern at his weekly public audience on Wednesday, September 11, setting aside his series of catechetical talks to speak instead about last year's terrorist attacks on the US.

Speaking to about 8,000 people (including US ambassador James Nicholson) in the Paul VI auditorium, the Holy Father said that the "barbarous and cruel" attacks deserved universal condemnation. He went on to say that the international community should be united in its response to terrorism-- a response that is both "necessary" and "urgent."

Terrorism, the Pope said, "is an always will be a manifestation of human cruelty, which for that very reason can never resolve conflicts among men." The deliberate killing of innocent people, he continued, is inherently evil: "no instance of injustice, no feeling of frustration, no philosophy or religion can justify such an aberration." Respect for human life, he said is a natural and essential element of human life: "God commands it, international law sanctions it, the human conscience proclaims it, and peaceful coexistence requires it."

At the same time, the Pope said, international leaders should recognize the problems that provide fertile ground for terrorists. He called for steps "to resolve the scandalous injustices and the oppression that continue to afflict so many members of our human family, creating favorable conditions for the volatile desire for vengeance."

World peace, the Pope said, can be based "only on truth and justice." So he concluded his prepared remarks with a prayer for God's mercy, "so that love can replace hatred and, with the help of all men of good well, harmony and solidarity can flourish throughout the earth."

The Pope ended his audience with four prayers, which he said in English, French, Arabic, and Spanish. In English he prayed for "victims of violence and terrorism, especially those who were cruelly snatch from their loved ones a year ago today." In Arabic he prayed for "the faithful of all religions," that "they may reject firmly any form of violence and commit themselves to resolve conflicts through patient and honest dialogue."

Pope John Paul II held this week's audience at the Vatican, arriving by car from his summer residence at Castelgandolfo. He has held most of his public audiences during the summer at Castelgandolfo, where he will stay until the end of September. But he was scheduled to be in Rome on Wednesday for the funeral of Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves, returning to his summer residence in the evening.

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