Pope John Paul, in his Christmas message to the world, said this morning that God's name could never be used to condone violence and urged that children be saved from the cruel effects of adult conflicts.
In his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message the Pope also said he was "bearing in my heart" the tragedy of the Holy Land and of those who are dying of hunger.
Leading the 24th Christmas season of his pontificate, he urged all people to "open your hearts to the message of peace."
Speaking from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica, he made a ringing appeal for social and economic justice and wove his message around the image of the baby Jesus.
"In him we can recognise the face of every child who is born, of whatever race or nation: the little Palestinian and the little Israeli; the little American and the little Afghan; the child of the Hutu and the child of the Tutsi...," he said.
"Today my thoughts go to all the children of the world: so many, too many are the children condemned from birth to suffer through no fault of their own the effects of cruel conflicts," he said in a trembling voice and sounding weaker than he did at midnight mass.
Aware that the world was still coming to grips with the effects of the September 11th attacks on the United States, the Pope again strongly rejected the concept of a holy war.
"May God's holy name never be used as a justification for hatred! Let it never be used as an excuse for intolerance and violence!" he said. "May the gentle face of the Child of Bethlehem remind everyone that we all have one Father."
Peace is a gift but also has to be earned, the Pope said.
"Men and women of the third millennium, you who hunger for justice and peace, accept the message of Christmas, which today rings out around the world!" he said.
"Peace (is) to be implored, for God alone is its source and guarantee. Peace (is) to be forged in a world in which peoples and nations, burdened with so many and such varied difficulties, hope for a new humanity united not just by economic interests but by the unceasing effort to bring about a society that is more just and supportive," he said. v The Pope said he heard the "desperate cry of those who, in so many parts of the world, call for a fairer distribution of resources and for gainful employment for all" and that he felt close to those dying of cold and hunger.
He made a special reference to the Middle East, saying he was bearing "in my heart the tragic problems of the Holy Land," adding that his mind was on the Bethlehem of yesterday and the Bethlehem of today.
Hopes for peace in the Holy Land seemed as empty as Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's seat at Bethlehem's midnight mass after Israel barred his Christmas pilgrimage to the town where Jesus was born.