JOHN PAUL II APPEALS FOR RELEASE OF ALL KIDNAP VICTIMS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 5, 1997 (VIS) - John Paul II, in remarks following today's angelus in St. Peter's Square, said: "The days of the Christmas season and the start of the New Year offer families the awaited-for opportunity to gather together, sometimes after long periods and perhaps even travelling long distances."

"One's thoughts, however, must go to those families who are deprived of a similar joy, because someone is 'missing'," he went on. "And among those who 'are missing,' I wish once again to recall kidnapped persons, or those who disappeared in mysterious circumstances, and assure their loved ones of a particular place in prayers. May the mercy of Christ, born in human weakness, induce the kidnappers to perform a gesture of humanity: free these persons. This is a gesture which will fill those who are waiting with joy, but which above all will give peace to (the kidnapers) themselves."
ANG/KIDNAPPED/... VIS 970107 (150)