Vatican City (Fides Service) - "Pacem In Terris: A Permanent Commitment" is the title of the Holy Father's Message for World Day for Peace on 1 January 2003 made public in the Vatican on December 17. The Pope writes: "Almost forty years ago, on Holy Thursday, 11 April 1963, Pope John XXIII published his epic Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris. Addressing himself to "all men of good will", my venerable predecessor, who would die just two months later, summed up his message of "peace on earth" in the first sentence of the Encyclical: "Peace on earth, which all men of every era have most eagerly yearned for, can be firmly established and sustained only if the order laid down by God be dutifully observed". After focussing on the need to have complete trust in God and also trust in mankind, and to continue to work to build peace on earth the Pope concludes: "The fortieth anniversary of Pacem in Terris is an apt occasion to return to Pope John XXIII's prophetic teaching. Catholic communities will know how to celebrate this anniversary during the year with initiatives which, I hope, will have an ecumenical and interreligious character and be open to all those who have a heartfelt desire "to break through the barriers which divide them, to strengthen the bonds of mutual love, to learn to understand one another and to pardon those who have done them wrong". See complete message. (Fides Service 18/12/2002)