In his address to thousands of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for the first Angelus prayer of 2013, Pope Benedict likened the new year to “a journey” and prayed that it may lead on a path to peace. “In this first Angelus of the new year, we ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, to bless us, like a mother blesses her children who must leave on a trip. A new year is like a journey: with the light and grace of God, may it be a path to peace for every person and every family, for each country and for the whole world.”
After recitin the angelus, to all those present, the Pope said, “I repeat the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the peacemakers”!
Earlier on New Year’s Day, Pope Benedict celebrated mass in St Peter’s Basilica, marking the feast of Mary and the Church’s World Day of Peace. In his homily the Pope urged people to look to God and to his son Jesus for true peace in a world fraught with problems, darkness and anxieties.