Pope John Paul ushered in the New Year with special prayers for the victims of the Asian tsunami on Saturday, the Catholic Church's World Day of Peace.
"I send a special greeting to the ambassadors of those countries that have been struck in these days by the enormous cataclysm," the 84-year old Pontiff told thousands of pilgrims and Church dignitaries at his traditional New Year's Day mass.
His prayers followed an extraordinary mass led by the Pope in his private chapel on New Year's Eve dedicated to the 124,000 people killed when an earthquake under the Indian Ocean last week sent tsunami waves onto surrounding shores.
The pope, now in the 27th Christmas season of his pontificate, also marked the Catholic Church's annual World Day of Peace by calling for greater cooperation between religions.
"In the face of multiple manifestations of evil, that are injuring the human family, the first priority is to further peace through common means, giving importance to dialogue, to acts of justice and forgiveness," the Polish pope said.
Grim message
The peace message, released earlier in December, is one of the most glum of Pope John Paul's pontificate, describing social and political evil spreading through the world causing war, injustice, violence and desperation.
In it the Pope says Iraq seems locked in insecurity and uncertainty, the Middle East sometimes appears to be broken beyond repair, Africa is mired in desperation and terrorism has hung a cloud of anguish over the globe.
Pope John Paul, who suffers from Parkinson's disease and has difficulty speaking, on Saturday called on the world's 1 billion Catholics to "win the fight over evil with the armies of love."
"This is the road Christians and believers in different religions are called on to walk together acknowledging the universal moral law," he said in a relatively clear voice.
As has become typical, the pope presided over the mass but senior cardinals celebrated it.
The annual peace message, 16 pages long this year, is traditionally sent to all world leaders, the Rome diplomatic corps and heads of major organizations like the United Nations.