Pope John Paul II has issued an urgent appeal for peace in the Middle East, saying in his Easter Sunday address that "nothing is resolved by war". Addressing a crowd of 50,000 pilgrims in St Peter's Square in Rome, he said it seemed that "war has been declared on peace". "No one can remain silent and inactive, no political or religious leader," he said. Plagued by Parkinson's disease and arthritis, the 81-year-old pontiff has nonetheless insisted on making his traditional Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) Easter address.