VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI opened the New Year on Tuesday with an appeal for world peace, calling it a "divine gift" and stressing the role of family as the foundation for it.
The Catholic Church celebrates January 1 as its World Day of Peace, and during a midmorning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, the pope called for "the gift of peace: for our families, our cities and the whole world.
"We all aspire to leave in peace, but real peace ... is not the simple conquest of man or the result of political agreements: it is above all a divine gift," Benedict said.
At the same time, the pope added, peace is a "commitment that must be pursued with patience."
Benedict also returned to a theme that has been central to his papacy when he spoke of the importance of the traditional family based on the marriage between man and woman.
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