Pope John Paul II told tens of thousands of pilgrims, who spent the last hours of the year 2000 in a frigid St. Peter's Square, that God guides the events of the world.
On the threshold of the third Christian millennium, he repeated a familiar prayer of confidence in God for all that is to come: “In you, O Lord, I trust, let me never be put to shame!”
The Holy Father reminded everyone to look to Christ to find mankind's destiny. Wishing fraternity and prosperity to all nations, he called young people the hope of the future.