Pope John Paul issued a dramatic appeal today that the world should not slide into war following the attacks on the United States.
"With all my heart, I beg God to keep the world in peace", the 81-year-old Pontiff said at the end of a mass for up to50,000 people in Kazakhstan, a Central Asian republic which may be caught up in an eventual regional crisis after the attacks.
"We must not let what has happened lead to a deepening of divisions. Religion must never be used as a reason for conflict", he said, referring to tensions with some parts of the Islamic world following the September 11th attacks in New York and Washington.
"I wish to make an earnest call to everyone, Christians and the followers of other religions, that we work together to build a world without violence, a world that loves life, and grows in justice and solidarity", he said, reading in English.
"From this place, I invite both Christians and Muslims to raise an intense prayer to the one, almighty God whose children we all are, that the supreme good of peace may reign in the world.
"May people everywhere, strengthened by divine wisdom, work for a civilisation of love, in which there is no room for hatred, discrimination or violence", he said.