Pope John Paul II delivered his traditional Christmas plea for peace on Saturday in an address shortened this year - apparently because of his poor health - but packed with no less passion and worry about violence in troubled parts of the world.
"I think of Africa, of the tragedy of Darfur in Sudan, of the Ivory Coast and of the Great Lakes region," which includes Congo and Rwanda, the pope, who is 84, told thousands of people on the chilly, rain-drenched cobblestones of St. Peter's Square. "With great apprehension I follow the situation in Iraq."
He also referred to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The issue is always important to the Vatican since the region is revered as the birthplace of Jesus but perhaps especially this year with new possibilities and dangers surrounding the elections next month to choose a new Palestinian leader.
"How can I fail to look with anxious concern, but also invincible confidence, toward that land of which you are a son?" the pope said in Italian, according to the official Vatican translation of his remarks, on the 27th Christmas of his long pontificate. "Everywhere peace is needed."
In these last years, as the effects of Parkinson's disease have become more pronounced, the pope's public appearances are scrutinized as much for what he says as for clues about his overall health. In two appearances on Saturday - he celebrated midnight Mass at St. Peter's Basilica 12 hours before his address in the afternoon - he delivered far shorter speeches than usual but did so unassisted. Many of his public pronouncements are read these days in full or in part by an assistant.
At the crowded midnight Mass, where worshipers greeted him with elated applause, his voice was at times strong and at other times hoarse and seemed to trail off during a brief homily. He warmly received a group of children dressed in costumes from around the world.
On Saturday, wearing gold robes and protected from the rain by a huge canopy, John Paul, the most widely traveled pope in history, read off Christmas greetings in 62 languages, including Arabic, Russian, Chinese and Esperanto. The longest was reserved for his mother tongue, Polish. He paused several times, for a drink of water or to hand papers to assistants, but showed little fatigue and appeared buoyed by cheers from people in the crowd hearing greetings in their language.
In a square decorated by a huge Christmas tree and life-size Nativity scene, he called on help from Jesus for "an end to the spread of violence in its many forms."
"You, prince of true peace, help us to understand that the only way to build peace is to flee in horror from evil, and to pursue goodness with courage and perseverance," he said. "Men and women of good will, of every people on the earth, come with trust to the crib of the Savior."