Spaniards Send Emails In Support Of Nobel Peace Prize For John Paul II 

Madrid, Spain, Oct 8, 2003 / 22:00 pm

Just two days before the announcement of this year’s recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Spanish website HazteOir.org has begun an international appeal for emails in support of awarding the prize to Pope John Paul II.

The site offers a petition addressed to the Nobel Institute in Norway, Geir Lundestad, asking that the prize be given to the Holy Father as he completes the 25th year of his pontificate.   The petition can signed online at http://www.hazteoir.com/modules.php?name=Noticias&file=article&sid=143. 

“John Paul II, who celebrates the 25th year of his pontificate this October, is probably the greatest defender of peace of the 20th and 21st centuries.  He is a true ‘Apostle for Peace,’” the site states. 

HazteOir.org also says that “although the nominations (and there are many) for the prize are made before the month of February and are kept secret for 50 years, the Holy Father is surely on the list of those nominated.”

Many noted Spaniards have called for the Nobel to be awarded to John Paul II, including the mayor of La Coruña, Paco Vázquez, the philosopher Julián Marías, and many other writers, journalists, politicians, artists and union leaders.