Pope John Paul II turned his thoughts to victims of the Asian tsunami disaster in his New Year's prayers as the death toll edged towards 126,000

Pope John Paul II turned his thoughts to victims of the Asian tsunami disaster in his New Year's prayers as the death toll edged towards 126,000, and urged the world to strive towards peace through dialogue, justice and forgiveness. The 84-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church addressed a special greeting to ambassadors of countries hit by the "terrible calamity" last Sunday in a sermon he read in its entirety at St Peter's Basilica. "I assure them of my prayers for the victims of the catastrophe and for their families and I take note with satisfaction of the movement of solidarity which is developing everywhere in the world," he added. "This sort of human solidarity, along with the grace of God, gives hope for better days to come in the year that begins today," he said. A Vatican spokesman said the pontiff started off 2005 by celebrating mass in his private chapel at midnight for victims of the disaster that struck six days ago. The pope, who is suffering from Parkinson's disease but was in relatively good form, said World Peace Day Saturday was "an invitation to Christians and to all men to reaffirm their wish to build peace".