VATICAN CITY, JUN 3, 2007 (VIS) - Following today's Mass, during which George Preca, Szymon of Lipnica, Karel van Sint Andries Houben and Marie-Eugenie de Jesus Milleret were proclaimed as saints, the Pope greeted the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.

Addressing a group from the Italian Military Healthcare Association, which has as its motto "Arma pietati cedant" (may arms give way to mercy), the Pope cried: "May this come to pass in the whole world!

"My thoughts also go out," he added, "to the Church in Bologna, which is marking the 750th anniversary of the act with which the senate of that city authorized the abolition of slavery in its territory. May this initiative encourage a renewed commitment to overcoming the new forms of slavery that still afflict humanity."

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