MESSAGE
OF HIS HOLINESS 
POPE JOHN PAUL II
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE 
WORLD DAY OF PEACE

1 JANUARY 2004 

AN EVER TIMELY COMMITMENT:
TEACHING PEACE

My words are addressed to you, the Leaders of the nations, who have the duty of promoting peace!

To you, Jurists, committed to tracing paths to peaceful agreement, preparing conventions and treaties which strengthen international legality!

URBI ET ORBI MESSAGE
OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II

CHRISTMAS 2003

1. Descendit de caelis Salvator mundi. Gaudeamus!

The Saviour of the world has come down from heaven. Let us rejoice!
This proclamation, filled with deep rejoicing,
echoed in the night of Bethlehem.
Today the Church renews it with unchanged joy:
the Saviour is born for us!

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II
FOR THE 90th WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 2004

"Migration with a view to peace'

1. This year the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, with the theme "Migration with a view to peace", provides an opportunity to think about a topic that is more important than ever. Indeed, the theme, by contrast, draws public attention to forced human displacement, focusing on certain problematic aspects of great timeliness due to war and violence, terrorism and oppression, discrimination and injustice which, unfortunately, are always featured in the daily news. The mass media broadcast to homes images of suffering, violence and armed conflict. These are tragedies that sweep over countries and continents, and it is often the poorest areas that are the hardest hit. In this way tragedy is added to tragedy.

MESSAGE OF JOHN PAUL II
ON THE OCCASION
OF THE 70th ANNIVERSARY OF HOLODOMOR

To my Venerable Brothers
Cardinal Lubomyr Husar
Major Archbishop of Lviv for Ukrainians
and
Cardinal Marian Jaworski
Archbishop of Lviv for Latins

1. Apart from being a duty, remembering the drama people have lived through proves especially helpful in awakening in the young generations the commitment in all circumstances to be alert sentinels of respect for the dignity of every human person. And the prayers of suffrage prompted by this remembrance are a balm for believers that soothes their pain, as well as an effective entreaty to the God of the living to give eternal repose to all who were unjustly deprived of the gift of existence. Lastly, dutiful remembrance of the past acquires a value that reaches beyond a Nation's boundaries to other peoples who have been victims of equally dire events and can give solace in common knowledge.

MESSAGE OF JOHN PAUL II
TO MR JACQUES DIOUF
ON THE OCCASION OF WORLD FOOD DAY 2003

To Mr Jacques Diouf
Director General
of the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO)

The celebration of World Food Day invites us to reflect on the fact that hunger and malnutrition threaten the survival of many of our brothers and sisters daily. This harsh reality is a cause of division between individuals, social groups, communities and countries; indeed, it epitomizes the gap existing between levels of development and life-expectancy in different regions of the world.

MESSAGE OF JOHN PAUL II 
FOR THE 24th WORLD DAY OF TOURISM
(27 September 2003)

1. Next 27 September we will observe the World Day of Tourism, whose theme will be: "Tourism: an impetus in the fight against poverty, the creation of jobs and social harmony". With a view to this important celebration, I would like to propose to everyone, especially the Catholic faithful, some reflections on this topic in the light of the Church's social teaching and the changes occurring on our Planet, which also affect the tourism sector.

MESSAGE OF JOHN PAUL II
TO THE PARTICIPANTS
IN THE EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF ITALIAN CATHOLIC ACTION (ACI)

Dear Participants in the Extraordinary Assembly of Italian Catholic Action,

1. I am pleased to greet you all with joy and affection, dear brothers and sisters who have gathered in Rome for your Extraordinary Assembly on the theme: "History becomes prophecy". I address a cordial greeting in particular to your General Chaplain, Bishop Francesco Lambiasi, and to your National President, Dr Paola Bignardi.

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II
FOR THE 37th WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY

"The Communications Media at the Service
of Authentic Peace in the Light of 'Pacem in Terris'"

[Sunday, 1 June 2003} 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. In the dark days of the Cold War, Blessed Pope John XXIII's Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris came as a beacon of hope to men and women of good will. Declaring that authentic peace requires "diligent observance of the divinely established order" (Pacem in Terris, 1), the Holy Father pointed to truth, justice, charity and freedom as the pillars of a peaceful society (ibid., 37).

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II
FOR THE 40th WORLD DAY
OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS

11 MAY 2003 - FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Theme: Vocation to Service

Venerable Brethren in the Episcopate,
dearest Brothers and Sisters throughout the whole world!

1. “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased” (Mt 12:18; cf. Is 42:1-4).

The theme of this Message for the 40^th World Day of Prayer for Vocations invites us to return to the roots of the Christian vocation, to the story of the first person called by the Father, his Son Jesus. He is “the servant” of the Father, foretold by the prophets as the one whom the Father has chosen and formed from his mother’s womb (cf. Is 49, 1-6), the beloved whom the Father upholds and in whom he is well pleased (cf. Is 42, 1-9), in whom he has placed his spirit and to whom he has transmitted his power (cf. Is 49, 5), and as the one whom he will exalt (cf. Is 52,13 – 53,12).