NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      CASTELGANDOLFO (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II prayed in his Sunday Angelus message for the end to fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and called for the warring parties to respect life.

      "The violence in Africa has not diminished this week and my thoughts go out particularly to the population of Congo," the Holy Father said from his summer residence outside Rome. "I send a heartfelt appeal to the fighting factions to allow the population means to live and to avoid atrocities and massacres, looting, and depredation." Congo has been embroiled in violence since August 2 when President Laurent Kabila ordered Rwandan soldiers who helped him come to power last year to leave the country.

      "I ask all the forces implicated in the country's destiny to honor negotiations," he said. "This is the humanitarian road, reasonable and still possible, capable of preventing further tears and mourning and leading to a peaceful and long term solution which would prevent the conflict breaching the country's borders."

      The Holy Father, notably, did not make any reference to Thursday's attack by the United States against terrorist operations in Sudan and Afghanistan.