Pope laments 'tragic' Mideast

Pope John Paul II celebrates the Holy Easter vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica

VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II has defied ill-health to celebrate a solemn Mass for tens of thousands of people at St Peter's Square on Easter Sunday.

The 81-year-old pope has been forced to abstain from taking part in some key religious ceremonies during Holy Week.

Much of his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and to the world) speech was dedicated to the "truly great tragedy" in the Mideast and the call for peace.

He called for an end to the "dramatic spiral of abuse of power and killings that bloody the Holy Land, plunged again in these very days into horror and despair."

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Pope John Paul added: "It seems that war has been declared on peace. But nothing is resolved by war. It only brings greater suffering and death. Neither do retaliation and reprisals resolve anything. The tragedy is truly great."

"No one can remain silent and inactive, no political or religious leader!

"Denunciation must be followed by practical acts of solidarity that will help everyone to rediscover mutual respect and return to frank negotiation."

The pope spoke as Israeli soldiers encircling Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah traded fire with the Palestinian Authority leader's gunmen, despite a U.N. call for Israel to lift the siege.

The ailing pope has failed to celebrate Mass a couple of times during Holy Week -- the first time since he took office in 1978 -- and was unable to walk with the cross in the symbolic service on Good Friday.

But the pope, who has an arthritic knee, insisted on his role in Easter ceremonies, and the Vatican set up a special low altar in St. Peter's Basilica so he would not have to climb stairs.

He took part in Saturday's candlelight vigil in St. Peter's Basilica, the most solemn ceremony in the Catholic calendar. (Full story)

"This is the night of nights, the night of faith and of hope. While all is shrouded in darkness, God -- the Light -- keeps watch," John Paul said during the three-hour ceremony.

With a symbolic use of darkness and light, the vigil marks the final hours after Christ's death before his resurrection and the exultation of Easter Sunday.

The ceremony began with the lighting of a tall candle, from which hundreds of faithful lighted their own small candles. Dots of light gradually spread through the darkened basilica, filling the silent hall with a quivering sea of tiny flames.