VATICAN CITY - After a particularly bloody week in the Middle East, Pope John Paul II urged Christians, Muslims and Jews alike on Sunday to pursue peace, not hatred.
The pontiff offered special prayers to those living in the Holy Land in his weekly appearance in St. Peter's Square, saying he was entrusting them to the "merciful heart of Christ."
"This heart, filled with disgrace, never feeds hate and vendetta, but asks pardon for its killers," he said. "This heart indicates the only path out of the spiral of violence: the path of pacification of spirits, of reciprocal understanding and reconciliation."
His appeal came after a particularly violent week in the 21-month conflict.
Palestinian suicide bombings, settlement infiltrations, Israeli military retaliation and other violence left 33 Israelis and 12 Palestinians dead last week and delayed plans by U.S. President George Bush to deliver a speech outlining U.S. recommendations for Mideast peacemaking.